SENATE. I Document i No. 209. 56th Congress, I 1st Session. ' cNational Galleries OF ... . History and Art. The Aggrandizement of ... . Washington. PART I. Petition for a Site for National Galleries of History and Art. Descriptive Handbook of the Halls of the Ancients Constructed for promotion of said Galleries, according to the Design annexed. PART II. A Design and Prospectus for National Galleries of History and Art at Washington. PART III Designs, Plans, and Suggestions for the Aggrandizement of Washington. WITH 342 JLiLiUSTRATIONS. By Franklin Webster Smith. WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. J900. Houmania Cauada Belgium Spain Austria Germany U. Kingdom U. States France Russia Italy Australia Holland Sweden Argentina WEALTH OF NATIONS. SENATE. 56th Congress, i 1st Session. f j Document I No. 209. \ F» A R T I . PETITION OF FRANKLIN WEBSTER SMITH FOR THE SITE OF THE OLD NAVAL OBSERVATORY ERRATA. For hurried printing the last revise was not read in proof. Part II. p. 1 2 1 , Plate 97, read Kaitbey, for Eailbey. p. 128, Plate ioi, read Aldobrandini, for Aldsbrandiui. Part III. p. 16, from Lincoln’s Inaugural, read firmness, for fairness, p. 32, footnote, read A. D., for B. C. February 12, 1900. — Presented by Mr. Hoar, referred to the Committee on District of Columbia, and ordered to be printed. WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. I 900. 56th Congress, 1st Sessioti. SENATE. \ Document I No. 209. F> Ds. 1* T I . \ PETITION OF FRANKLIN WEBSTER SMITH FOR THE SITE OF THE OLD NAVAL OBSERVATORY FOR THE National Galleries of History and DESCRIPTIVE HAND-BOOK OF THE HALLS OF THE ANCIENTS CONSTRUCTED FOR PROMOTION OF SAID GALLERIES ACCORDING TO DESIGN ANNEXED. February 12, 1900. — Presented by Mr. IIoar, referred to the Committee on District of Columbia, and ordered to be printed. WASHINGTON : GOVERN M E N T PRINTING OFFICE. I qoo. PART II. Design and Prospectus for National Galleries of History and Art in Washington by Franklin Webster Smith, TOGETHER WITH 12 1 ILLUSTRATIONS, 108 OF WHICH WERE SUPPLIED in Electrotype by the Author. PART III. Designs, Plans, and Suggestions for the Aggrandizement of Washington, with 9S Illustrations. 11 THE GETTY CENTER LIBRARY THE HALLS OF THE ANCIENTS Nos. I3I2-I4-16-J8 New York Avenue, Washington. Franklin W. Smith, Architect. Albany Engraving Co.. N. Y. W. F. Wagner Pinxit. DESIGN OF THE PORTAL. It is a reconstruction, full size, of a section of the Hypost^le Hall of Karnak, with columns 70 feet high, 12 feet diameter. AN AMERICAN ACROPOLIS. Proposed National Galleries in Washington. In Their Promotion the Press has a Cause Worthy Its floral Power , and in Their Aid Wealth for Its Noblest Use. “ If we are a great country, as justly we claim to be, is it creditable for us, with all our wealth and prosperity, to be without a great national museum, such as is to be found in every great capital of Europe?” — Report of \V. W. Story, sculptor, resi- dent in Rome, U. S. Commissioner to the Paris Exposition of 1878. The United States is the only civilized nation that has not National Galleries for illustration of history, architecture, and art. In oceanic separation from the remains of historic nationalities, the American people are deprived of the objective illustration available to European nations. The wealth of the United States, greater than of any other nation, should create an institution, surpassing all others, for illustration of human progress and civilization. It is earnestly desired to promote immediately National Galleriesof History and Art, in accordance with the Design herewith ; which, while it equals in grandeur the National Capitol, is composed of the most simple and durable constructions, viz., galleries of one story, terraced upon a hillside. Its eight Courts are ranged below American Galleries, for the history of the United States, surmounted by a Parthenonic temple to contain a Ilall of the Presidents of the United States; an American Walhalla, like that upon a hill-top of the Danube, a proud monument of the Bavarian people. Its colonnade should range the horizon in counterpart of the dome of the Capitol — the one an expression of the highest Constitutional wisdom, the other of its resultant intellectual development of a nation. (See p. 6S.) In recognition of the demands of modern education for object teaching , the Galleries enclose courts for types of ancient dwellings, as of late have been shown the modern homes of mankind ; and other structures, civil and religious, in whole, in part, or by model, as now illustrated by the Pompeian House at Saratoga. The Galleries are to be filled with mural paintings, panoramic and inex- pensive, in chronological history of the ancient nations like that of Bavaria in the National Museum in Munich ; corridors being filled with casts for study, and for sale at cost; as now supplied by the British Museum and the Louvre to the world. The Galleries to be of sand-concrete, tested in the great hotels at St. Augustine, the Stanford Museum, and the House of Pansa at Saratoga, in which concrete has cost less than ordinary brickwork. Roman columns, imperishable, are cast for $20.00 each, which in stone would have cost $300.00. Concrete was the principal material of ancient Rome (Ency. Britta.). v Dii || I Pfi 7 J l, i A Advisory Architects. Franklin Webster* Henry Ives Cobb, ) The area proposed for the Galleries, Courts and Avenues is 62.17 acres — about 6 acres to each, 500 ft. square. The Old Observatory site, national property, covers 22.78 acres. To obtain the required 62.17 :i cres only 17 acres, or less than 5- the area, must be purchased; the intermediate streets which will fall within the lines without cost measuring 22 acres. The 17 a res (740.520 square feet) are now valued at 50 cents per foot; all $370,260. At 500,000 dollars they would be an opportunity for the Government that will soon be lost. Doubtless a commission would advise the Government to secure now the entire dump along the north side of Potomac Park, to the President’s grounds. Betterments upon E st. for 2.227 ft- would repay the outlay. The late Mr. James Renwick, architect, estimated the cost of the Galleries per 100 ft. length, 32 ft. wide, and 35 ft. high, with side corridors for casts 25 ft. high, 13 feet wide, and corner towers, with steam heat, at $31,363 00. “ This is probably a safe estimate within 7 per cent.” (Signed, James Renwick.) The square of 500 ft. would make 1.700ft. range of gallery OF HISTORY AND ART th, Architect. Harry Dodge Jenkins pinxit. for construction with exterior length of 2,000 ft.— at the above estimate to cost $533,171.00; adding $466,829 for constructions at greater elevation, would make $1,000,000 for each Gal- lery and Court— $S. 000,000 for eight, leaving $2,000,000 for structures reproduced, illus- trative paintings, etc. $10,000,000 would cover the cost. This could be extended through several years, a section of each style being commenced. “ I believe that if a section of the Egyptian and Roman Courts and Galleries can be built with the illustrations proposed, the rich men of the country will rapidly complete the series. They will welcome a scheme of such national and permanent usefulness. The people generally will freely contribute buildings or objects required. They would be the most lasting and creditable monuments to their memory.” — Hon. Jos. R. Hawley, U. S. Senator from Connecticut; President of Centennial Exposition, 1876. National Galleries a Necessity as an Educational Institution. The Halls of the Ancients are constructed to illustrate Mr. Franklin Webster Smith’s design for National Galleries of History and Art at Washington, D. C. They are not intended for high technical art, but to create a National Educational Institution ; in illustration of the history, architecture, arts and manners of past nationalities ; to stimulate inquiry from the unlearned ; and provide vast material for scholarship. Modern research can reconstruct ancient monuments and buildings, exact in architectural details, far more impressive and instructive than European Museums filled with articles and fragments in show-cases. “ It is inevitable that you are indebted to the past. The old forest is de- composed for the composition of the new forest. So it is in thought. If we learn how old are the pattern of our shawls, the capitals of our columns, the fret, the beads and other ornaments on our walls, the alternate lotus-bud and leaf stem of our iron fences — we shall think very well of our first men or ill of the lastest.” — Emerson . “ The 19th century is insatiable in the matter of knowledge, comparison, and generalization in all things.” — Monsieur Gili'c upon the Exposition of 1879. “ There is an Oriental saying that the distance between ear and eye is small, but the difference between hearing and seeing very great. More terse and not less forcible is our proverb, ‘ To see is to know,’ which expresses a •growing tendency in the human mind. In this busy, critical, and skeptical age the eye is used more and more, and the ear less and less, and in the use of the eye descriptive writing is set aside for actual objects. “The museums of the future, in this democratic land, should be adapted to the mechanic, the laborer, and the clerk, as much as to the professional man. The peoples’ museum should be much more than a house full of speci- mens in glass cases. It should be a house full of ideas “Museums are commonly classed in two groups — those of science and those of art. Between is a territory which no English word can adequately describe — which the Germans call Culturgeschite — the natural history of cult, or civilization, of man and his ideas and achievements. The museums of science and art have not yet learned how to partition this territory.” — The late 1 'rof. G. Brown Goode of the Smithsonian Institution — Lecture on the Museums of the Euture. This vacant territory, discerned by the learned and lamented Professor, awaits possession by National Galleries of History and Art. in Washington. They will fulfil his admirable definition, viz : “ The National History of Civilization, of Man and His Ideas and Achievements.” Then Europe will come to America for study of the progress of civilization, because in America only will it be realistically and clearly revealed. In 100 days the country expended 200,000.000 dollars in War. In con- trast, what beneficence of intellectual profit and pleasure for the nation, an outlay of 10.000.000 dollars for National Galleries of History and Art, one month’s outlay for warlike operations ! VIII Petition of Franklin Webster Smith FOR A SITE FOR NATIONAL GALLERIES OF HISTORY AND ART. To the Senators and Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled: The undersigned, Franklin Webster Smith, formerly of Boston, Mass., respectfully represents that he has conceived a design for National Gal- leries of History and Art in Washington, as a grand systematic educa- tional institution exhibiting in reconstructions the art, architecture, religion, manners, and customs of the ancient nationalities. That said design has been matured during fifty years of study and observation in the United States and during nineteen extensive journeys abroad. That said design has been very widely set forth in an elaborate pros- pectus, receiving unanimous commendation thereof by the press through- out the United States and by audiences at public lectures for its exposi- tion in the principal cities. That it has received, also, very earnest appro- bation of Senators and Representatives in Congress, educators, and others. That these proposed National Galleries fill an absolute void in the edu- cational resources of the citizens of the United States. That they utilize the revelations of archaeology and transfer to the Western World, in simulation, all desirable relics of ancient art and all remains illustrative of ancient life that have filled the museums of Europe at great cost; these reproductions being in every way as valuable for education as originals, but at a very small fraction of their cost. That your petitioner now seeks legislation of Congress for commence- ment of said Galleries. That the hill known as the late site of the Naval Observatory, near the Potomac, which was designated by Washington as the site for a university (see facsimile of the original plan of L' Enfant, bearing the signature of Washington, annexed), comprising about 23 acres, be set apart as an American Acropolis, to be devoted exclusively to Galleries of American History and Memorial Temples of Presidents of the United States and other statesmen and patriots. That a portion of the tract lying west of said Observatory Hill be- tween B and E streets, comprising an area of about 40 acres, be con- ix X NATIONAL GALLERIES OF HISTORY AND ART. demned as a site for the proposed Galleries and Courts of History and Art according to the Design and abridged Prospectus hereto appended, and also according to a model on one-eighth scale which has been con- structed of the architectural details and topographical elevations of said galleries. Said model is now on exhibition in the building known as the Halls of the Ancients, on New York avenue, Washington, said halls having been constructed solely for the purpose of exploiting the design for national galleries and courts by the financial cooperation of Mr. S. Walter Woodward, of Washington. That such portion of said 40 acres as are not now public property, say 17 acres, be condemned for purchase by the United States for the proposed galleries. This area of 17 acres, with the 23 acres in the Observatory tract and the land now in streets, will aggregate 60 acres for constructions of said design. The land required is of very low valu- ation and almost vacant of improvement. That for public apprehension of galleries proposed, their uses, and the public benefits therefrom, this petition and the prospectus accompanying the same may be printed. That an appropriation of $500 be made for the survey of the land and a plan for said galleries. That your petitioner respectfully represents that such legislation by Congress in behalf of the national galleries hereinabove described would be a most fitting commemoration of the year 1900, as advised by the President of the United States. Franklin Webster Smith. Washington, February 10 , /poo. , ★ ★ ★ REMARKS OF MR. HOAR IX THE SENATE. [From the Congressional Record. Fifty-sixth Congress, first session. Washington, Monday, February 12, 1900.] National Gallery of history and Art. Mr. Hoar. I present the petition of Franklin W. Smith, of Boston, Mass. , praying for an appropriation of land for a site for National Galleries of history and art, and for aid in the establishment thereof. I ask unanimous consent to make a statement in regard to this petition. The petitioner is a business man of great distinction and success, who for many years has devoted his life to the promotion of National Galleries of art which shall represent and reproduce the architecture, both public or ornamental and domestic, of the ancient nations, especially Greece and Rome, but also the Oriental cities. He has devoted his whole time to a study of that subject and has become an eminent authority. He has made a large collection of books and prints, and has, with the financial cooperation of Mr. S. Walter Woodward, of Washington, on New York avenue, in this city, built and adorned some halls showing great beauty and in full size Roman, Egyptian, Assyrian, and Saracenic architecture. What the petitioner desires is to have the site of the old observatory appropriated by the United States, and some land in the neigborhood, where he will place his own collection and devote himself entirely, if he may be permitted, to advancing that work. It will become, at a very moderate cost, a great ornament to the capital of the nation, and it will have an educational power, he thinks, more potent than many lecture- ships or professorships. He hopes very much that the members of the two Houses will, before acting upon his petition, visit, as some gentlemen I am told have already visited, the beautiful collection and buildings here. I ask unanimous consent that this petition, which is very brief, com- prising a page or two, and the Design and Prospectus which accompany it, may be printed as a document, for the use of the Senate. I under- stand that there are some plates, but he has all the plates prepared, so that that will be no cost to the Government. The President pro tempore. The petition will be referred to the Committee on the Library. Mr. Hoar. I rather think it would be better on the whole that the petition should go to the Committee on the District of Columbia, as it asks for the occupation of certain lands within the District. The President pro tempore. It will be so referred. The Senator from Massachusetts asks that the paper which he presents may be printed as a document. Mr. Hoar. The petition and papers. The President pro tempore. Is there objection? The Chair hears none, and it is so ordered. xv CONTEXTS. I'age. Petition . ix Letters of Senators and others i Statement of the development of the Design 6 Description of the Halls 1 1 The Egyptian Portal and Facade. . . 13 Hall of Gods and Kings 14 Facsimile of first announcement of the Discovery of Herculaneum 20 The Roman or Pompeian House 23 The Lecture Hall — Painting of the Grandeur of Rome 35 Moorish Hall of Bensaquin ... 38 Assyrian Throne Room 39 Roman Historical Gallery ... . . 50 Egyptian Hall of Arts and Crafts 53 Hall of the Model 62 Press notices of Design . . 65 Press notices of Halls . 67 illustrations of Concrete Construction 69 Biblical illustrations 70 Sixty-four pages of text and all illustrations were supplied in paged forms electrotvped, as also the pages in color by the author printed. XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 1. 2 . 3- 4 - 5- 6 . 7- 8 . 9- xo. 11. 12 . 13- 14. 15 - 16. 17 - 18. 19 - 20. 21. 22 . 25- 26. 27 . 28. 29. 30 . 3i- 32 . 33- 34- 35- 36 . 37- 38. 39- 40. 4i- 42 . 43- 44- 45- 46. 47- 48. 49 - 50. 51- Pa ge. An American Acropolis Frontispiece. Design for National Galleries VI Facsimile of Washington’s designation of Observatory Hill XI Section through Halls of the Ancients XVIII Egyptian Hall of Gods and Kings 9 Site of Halls in Washington 10 Raineses Fighting from his Chariot and Passing Sentence on Captives. ... 14 The King upon his Chariot 15 Attack of a Fortress ! 16 Palanquins and Carriages 17 Judgment of the Soul 18 Restoration of the Temple of Jupiter, Pompeii 22 Vesuvius 23 The Roman House— Atrium, Tablinum, and Peristylium of 24 Tablinum 26 Peristylium 27 Exedra 28 Hortus — Class from High School at study 29 Bibliotheca 31 Atrium and Ala 32 Taberna 33 23, 24. Painting of the Grandeur of Rome 35 , 36, 37 Moorish Hall of Bensaquin 38 West end of Assyrian Throne Room 39 Gallery of Assyrian Throne Room 40 East end of Assyrian Throne Room 42 Throne of Xerxes, Assyrian Throne Room 43 Sennacherib on his Throne before Lachish 45 Seal of Sennacherib 49 Roman Historical Gallery 30 Model of Temple of Denderah 31 Moorish Court of Galleries 32 Egyptian Pylon from Luxor ! 32 Egyptian Columns 32 Egyptian Pavilion of Medinet-Abou 32 Perspective of Galleries 32 Exterior of Egyptian Court 53 Egyptian Vineyards and Wine-making 54 Egyptian Music and Sport 33 Egyptian Caricatures 56-57 Egyptian Feast; copy of painting by Long 58 Egyptian Court ; restoration by Racinet 59 Model of Galleries 62 Model of Acropolis 63 Model of Roman Court ' 63 A Colonnade on the Potomac — Hall of Fame 64 Proposed Avenue 64 Concrete Constructions 69 Egyptian Brickmakers — Biblical illustrations 70 XVII Mmw iy*fyu| Vs rtaihESteSc | j?rr r 4-r r rfr 1 * PlC T Vi HI (jALlf H*. COJMOWAMA. °* Tv,e no 31*.. Moorish hall of Bf n s a^iiin. Lecture Hall. rfc -”'* «"*•’*'; Ptnismion. TABtINUM. the: Halls gf the: Ancient;. *’ tV% * moorish Arcade. Moorish hall. Section Through £2 A r «»t | M. Assy R'amTh son c Roum. Roman V fcSTl BULUM. Hall or AHT5 VC RArrs. C*» v i'Tian Mall of t>»c K'nq-s. PORTAl.. StCTK>M 0» H»LL < r National Qallerics Co- Washington. CORRESPONDENCE. Letters in commendation of the plan of Franklin IV. Smith for Galleries and Courts of History and Art in Washington. Washington, D. C July if, iSyy. To Hon. John I). Long, Secretary of the Navy. To Hon. Julius C. Burrows, Hon. William E. Chandler, Hon. Shelby M. Cullom, Hon. Jacob H. Gallinger, Hon. George Gray, Hon. Joseph R. Hawley. Hon. George F. Hoar, Hon. Justin S. Morrill, Hon. Orville H. Platt, Hon. Redfield Proctor. Senators in Congress of the United States. Hon. Thomas B. Reed, Speaker United States House of Representatives. In 1891 I published a Prospectus for National Galleries of History and Art and presented a copy to each member of Congress. In the interval, at various times, I have had the pleasure of further explanation of the plan to you, either at the Pompeian House in Saratoga, at illus- trated lectures in Washington, or in personal conference. You cordiallv expressed your interest in the enterprise and several above named offered their service and influence for its promotion. Meanwhile, in the dire depression of financial affairs, both of the Government and of the nation, I have withheld all mention of the subject to you, avoiding trespass upon your valuable time when there was no definite scheme for your cooperation. But in this interim of five years the scheme has not been allowed to rest in silence. It has had my incessant study for its more complete development. Three visits to Europe and Egypt have been made for further intelligence and suggestion. Now an extraordinary opportunity has occurred for demonstration of four ancient styles of interior architecture and of the manners and arts of those nations, such as the Pompeian House at Saratoga is of Roman Art and Life. 1 his fortuitous advantage has been seized, and herewith is inclosed a description of the thoroughness with which it is to be improved in 1 2 CORRESPONDENCE HALLS OF THE ANCIENTS. As mentioned in the descriptive book herewith, I had determined to renew the public presentation of the idea, if spared, in the autumn of 1897; considering that within sixty days I shall have attained 71 years of age, now, with the attractive and, as I believe, convincing exhibit of the feasibility of the plan placed in your hands, I appeal confidently for your cooperation. You will not ask apology if in the strong self-apprehension of my ideas a personality is made prominent. The plan I have set forth is an evolu- tion through fifty years of my life. It is no sudden, intangible vision. To parry an apparent presumption in the announcement of an institu- tion as an advance upon all existing on similar lines, I cite works accom- plished that demonstrate its theory. Certainly the Pompeia is evidence of the possibility of multiplied object-lessons from the past. During the last eight summers I have spoken daily upon the advantage to the people of the United States of the proposed national gallery. Not less than 50,000 intelligent persons from all parts of the United States have listened and many have said with emphasis, “ It should be,” ‘‘It must be,” ” It can be,” easily, so far as the only requisite demanded — the money — is concerned. I am satisfied that the money in volume waits for such use, intelligent knowledge of its expediency being conveyed to its possessors. There can be no more authoritative judgment upon the matter given to the country than from yourselves. Your status is that of highest statesmanship, having a broad and cultured familiarity with appliances promotive of public welfare and happiness. On a recent visit to the New National Library a young man, typical of the thrifty Western farmer, greeted me in rapt admiration with the question, ‘ ‘ Tell me, sir, can any country match this for a library?” ” No,” I replied, ‘‘and has it not. been a blessed expenditure, employing labor to build it, for us and all the people to enjoy it forever?” He responded in eager assent. Therefore, I crave your examination of the Prospectus accompanying this communication. I solicit further your joint expression in indorsement of an appeal to our rich countrymen to provide money toward the enterprise projected. With your recommendation I have faith in their liberal response. It will greatly inspire my confidence in success if you will add the weight of your united recommendation to the favorable opinions of the press, brief extracts from which are appended to the Prospectus. Yours, most respectfully and truly, Franklin W. Smith, Washington , D. C. REPLIES. Washington, D. C., July 75, 1897. Mr. Franklin W. Smith. Dear Sir: The undersigned acknowledge receipt of your joint letter soliciting an expression of interest in your design for National Galleries of History and Art in Washington. CORRESPONDENCE. 3 We recognize in the full exposition of your plan set forth in the Prospectus and Supplement thereto a conception of the highest educa- tional advantage to the nation. In the absence of all remains of the earlier civilizations in the New World, the systematic reconstructions you propose would give to all people, learned and unlearned, a more tangible apprehension of ancient architecture, art, manners, and customs than is available from the museums of detached curiosities in Europe. We are in favor of your petition to Congress for the assignment of the National Observatory lot to the use you designate and with special com- mendation as in fulfillment of its appropriation by Washington. We heartily second your appeal to the wealthy citizens of the United States to provide means for the purchase of the land adjacent, bounded by Seventeenth and E streets, for construction of the galleries and the illustrative material proposed. The amount required for the completion of the plan is insignificant comparatively with the volume of national wealth. The investment would yield great dividends of learning and of high entertainment in the National Capital. (Signed) J. C. Burrows, United States Senator from Michigan. W. E. Chandler, United States Senator from New Hampshire. S. M. CULLOM, United Stales Senator from Illinois. Henry C. Hansbrough, United States Senator from North Dakota. J. H. Gallinger, United States Senator from New Hampshire. Geo. Gray, United States Senator from Delaware. O. H. Platt, United States Senator from Connecticut. Senator Hawley, one of the ten Senators above jointly addressed, was in Europe. As president of the United States Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, his experience gives great weight to his judgment. After listening to a full exposition of the plan for National Galleries, in 1891, he said: “I believe that if a section of the Egyptian and Roman Courts and Galleries can be built, with the illustrations proposed, the rich men of the country will rapidly complete the series. “They will welcome a scheme of such national and permanent useful- ness. “The people generally will freely contribute buildings or objects required. They would be the most lasting and creditable monuments to their memory.” It gives me great pleasure to concur with the gentlemen who, as I am told, have signed the letter of which the within is a copy. The plan is in every respect admirable. (Signed) Geo. F. Hoar. I heartily concur in the above endorsement by .Senator Hoar. (Signed) Redfield Proctor. 4 CORRESPONDENCE. Senator Morrill wrote: “I appreciate the magnificence of your pro- posal and really hope no obstacle will prove a hindrance to your success. ” The Hon. John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy, wrote in “cordial concurrence’’ with the letter of Ur. Harris, Commissioner of Education, in earnest commendation. Bureau of Education, Washington , D. C. , July ly, r8gy. Mr. Franklin W. Smith. My Dear Sir: Your plan differs from others having the same gen- eral object in the fact that you give both the archaeological data and the restorations based on those data, whereas some schemes give only the data, the fragments recovered from the past, very useful to the specialist but not educative to the great public, while other schemes give only res- torations without the data and not properly derived from the data. We in America, a new world, have yet all the foundations of our civil- ization in the Old World, and it is the chief object of education to make us acquainted with these essential things. Your plans well carried out will render the city of Washington, already so instructive to the visitor, doubly valuable for the youth of the land who come here to see the most noble of object lessons. (Signed) W. T. Harris, Commissioner. Pine Point, Me.. September 2 , iSgy. Franklin W. Smith, Esq., Saratoga Springs , N. Y. Dear Sir: I have your letter of August 28. As you very well know, I think very highly of your design for National Galleries of History and Art at Washington, and I am quite sure that as soon as you place a specimen of your work in Washington according to your plan it will be found to be very satisfactory by people who examine it. You are at liberty to use this letter. Sincerely yours, (Signed) T. B. Reed. Subsequently Senators T. C. Platt and H. C. Lodge wrote in concur- rence with the signers of the above joint letter; Senators S. B. Elkins, William P. P'rye, and B. Penrose, with the letter of Senator Hoar. Senator Mallory wrote: “I think well of the enterprise as the inau- guration of a new (to us) and desirable educational instrumentality and I trust that you will be able to make it a practical success.’’ Ex-Senator Henderson wrote: My Dear Mr. Smith: Consider me at all times and under all circum- stances to be in favor of everything that promotes the education and cultivates the taste of the people. * * * The work which you propose should be encouraged with zeal. It reproduces in our own country, in the capital of the nation, in which every man and woman of the United States hold an interest, and CORRESPONDENCE. 5 in the greatness and beauty of which they entertain a just and patriotic pride, the architecture of the ancients. It will bring to our doors, and comparatively without cost, that coveted knowledge for which travelers expend millions and which antiquarians seek beneath the ruins and debris of the past. I fully agree with you that both Government and private generosity might well be exerted to help you in this laudable work. Yours, very truly, (Signed)' J. B. Henderson. THE NATIONAL GALLERIES OF HISTORY AND ART. Resolution of the National Educational Association of the United States. During the convention of the association at Saratoga Springs, X. Y. , in July, 1892, the members greatly enjoyed the study of the Pompeian blouse of Pansa and the panoramic painting of The Triumph of Con- stantine in the adjoining Art Gallery. At the close of the session the hall was filled with members of the association, including many of the most prominent educators of the United States, who listened with great interest to Mr. Franklin \Y. Smith’s exposition of his design for National Galleries of History and Art. On motion of Dr. William T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Education at Washington, seconded by Dr. Edward Brooks, superin- tendent of public education in Philadelphia, it was unanimously resolved — “That the members of the National Educational Association present most earnestly indorse the enterprise for .National Galleries of History and Art, which has been clearly demonstrated by Mr. Franklin W. Smith as of the greatest educational value to the people of the United States and to be thoroughly practicable in its details, and that the mem- bers present will by all means in their power endeavor to second his efforts to promote its establishment.” (Signed) E. H. Cook, President. Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, Baltimore , September /p, 1891 . Franklin W. Smith, Esq. Dear Sir: The undersigned were appointed a committee at the meeting of the board of directors of the Maryland Institute on Monday evening, 14th instant, to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of your ‘‘Design and Prospectus” for National Galleries of History and Art at Washington, D. C. The committee beg to express the fullest appreciation by the board of the vast importance of the plans, the details of which you so ably and interestingly develop. It is a matter of such national importance that not only should it com- 6 CORRESPONDENCE. mend itself to all lovers and patrons of art and literature, but the Gov- ernment itself should be induced to lend it sufficient aid and coopera- tion to insure its most complete and lasting success. Yours, most sincerely, W. H. Perkins, John L. Lawton, E. J. Codd, Committee. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DESIGN. Note. — Early in 1899, through overwork, the health of Mr. Smith was utterly prostrated. The opening of the Halls was appointed for February, the dace of the unprecedented blizzard that held Washington in Arctic environment for thirty days. I11 May, under medical direction, Mr. Smith sailed for Carlsbad. Returning from Europe in August he was forbidden to resume work in Washington before the middle of October. Meanwhile, the activity in all constructions made it impossible to obtain iron for completion of the Egyptian facade with the columns of Karnak, and also of other details. Rut there is accomplished in the Halls an abundance of absorbing interest— beyond the time that observers generally can afford for its study — of which the description herein is evidence. The circumstances above mentioned also delayed issue of this hand- book. In my Prospectus of a Design for National Galleries of History and Art, published in 1891, is recorded the following: “I am indebted to the cooperation and architectural ability of Mr. James Remvick and his partners, Messrs. Remvick, Aspinwall & Russell, for the superb drawings illustrating my imaginative description of the National Galleries. “Mr. Renwick’s national reputation as architect of the Cathedral in New York, of the Smithsonian Institution and Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, dates from his first and monumental work, Grace Church, New York, 1843.” The decease of my lamented friend closed his eager participation in the enterprise. This reminiscence revives other cooperation on record. Mr. S. W. Woodward, of Washington, was the most generous distributer of the Prospectus ; and the construction of the Halls of the Ancients is due principally to the aid of Mr. Woodward. The Halls of the Ancients, reconstructions unique in the world of educational interest, might not have been accomplished without his early financial support. During the years that I have labored to promote National Galleries, a national monument, the Congressional Library, has been constructed, challenging comparisons in the world. CORRESPONDENCE. 7 It is a gratification to quote a letter of Mr. Paul J. Pelz, architect of the Library, offering gratuitously his advisory counsel in preparation of plans of the Galleries, as follows, viz: Washington, July 5 , 1898 . Mr. Franklin W. Smith. My Dear Sir: Your design for National Galleries and Courts com- mands my admiration for its comprehensiveness, its system of arrange- ment, and its evident practical value for stimulating the education of the American people. While the combination is of surpassing grandeur, its simplicity and the moderate elevation of its parts can insure its construction at a cost less than that of several structures in the United States. It is a pleasure to offer to you my gratuitous services as advisory architect in the preparation of the new plans you propose, and which are an improvement upon your first arrangement of the Courts. Yours, very truly, (Signed) Paul J. Pelz. General Casey, U. S. A., the military engineer in charge of the con- struction, wrote to Mr. Pelz as follows: “You have now entirely completed the designs of the architectural characteristics and features of the building for the Library of Congress, both of the exterior and interior, for which jour services have been exclusively employed. “Allow me to thank you for the assistance you have rendered in the artistic and lesthetic branch of the general design of the building, and to congratulate you upon the permanent result, to which you may always refer with pride.’’ Having thus an eminent substitute for Mr. Renwick’s loss, with a vantage ground for demonstration in the Halls of the Ancients, I have increased courage and confidence in the promotion of the National Gal- leries; especially considering the years that passed between the selection of the design of Messrs. Smithmeyer & Pelz in 1874 by the commission appointed for the purpose — 1886 — when the appropriation was made for the structure and 1897, which witnessed its completion. To Mr. Henry Ives Cobb, architect of the Chicago University, of the new Pennsylvania State Capitol, the new immense Government Building in Chicago, etc., I am indebted for the revised drawing of the National Galleries. At the suggestion of Mr. A. Giraud Browning, F. S. A., associated in engineering of works upon the Nile, the order is reversed, the Egyptian and Assyrian facades in their massive stateliness forming a Grand Portal to the Courts. Franklin Webster Smith. s CORRESPONDENCE. Great Malvern. England, Aug-. 3th, 1899. My Dear Mr. Smith : I have repeatedly visited your reproductions of Greek and Roman architecture, botli in Saratoga and in Washington, and highly approve your plan so far as it is carried out, and the still more im- portant conception that remains to be executed hereafter. If it be reduced to a material form, it will have great educational value for the country. I expect to do what I can to induce Congress to aid and promote the under- taking. But how far it will consent to any large immediate expenditure, until the war is over, I cannot say, I do not like to be one of the persons who volunteer advice to men of wealth what they shall do with their money. I think that men who know how to acquire large fortunes without other peo- ples’ help or advice, generally know how to expend them without other peo- ples’ help or advice. So I do not volunteer to call the attention of anybody in private station to your scheme, however generous may be any gentlemen of wealth among my acquaintance ; but I believe any aid which may be given to you in this mat- ter would be a great public service. * * * I think your illustrations of architecture, both public and domestic, will be a great ornament to the capital, and that they should be treated by Congress and the people as wholly public, and encouraged in every way possible. The devoting your time, money, and best thought to this great purpose is worthy of all com- mendation. I am with high regard, faithfully yours, (Signed) Geo. F. Hoar. Franklin W. Smith*, Esq. Paris, September 23 , 1898. Mr. Smith, President National Galleries Co., Care of Messrs. Baring Bros.. London. Dear Sir : We have been very interested by reading about your splendid plan for National Galleries in Washington. Moreover, we consider that every one taking the smallest interest in the life of the ancients will be delighted to see them. Allow us to suggest a new idea, which will please most people in the United States as well as in Europe. It would be of a great interest to pub- lish a book containing reproductions to life of scenes in the different Halls, with numerous people in costume, and we should not be surprised to hear that the well-known beautiful fair ladies of the States will be eager to have their photographs taken in splendid Roman or Assyrian costumes amongst the beautiful sceneries and furniture of the Galleries. Everybody would so learn the very life of the ancients and get a living, indelible remembrance of nice young American faces and dresses in very, very old time. Our firm probably might compose a magnificent work for this purpose with the newest process of reproduction, in colors, ornaments, etc., and the profits of the sale might be employed for charity. We shall be very pleased to hear about the success of the enterprise, and we remain dear sir, Yours very faithfully, (Signed) Firmin' Didot. The house of Firmin Didot (the Harpers of Europe) was founded in 1 730. It is famous for the most splendid editions-dc-luxc published bv Napoleon, the French Academy, etc. Part I. The Ancient royal Tyrian and Imperial Roman purple was in shade nearest to the modem bril- liant red or scarlet in color. HALLS OF THE ANCIENTS FOR PROMOTION of NATIONAL GALLERIES of HISTORY and ART in WASHINGTON An Assyrian Column in the Halls of the Ancients, Washington. C. Chipiez, Restorer. 1 THE Halls of the Ancients CONSTRUCTED TO DEMONSTRATE THE PRACTICABILITY OF THE PRECEDING DESIGN FOR National Galleries of History and Art WASHINGTON. 1312, 1314, 1316, 1318 New York Avenue, WASHINGTON. THE SECOND HAND-BOOK OF THE Halls of the Ancients. Memorial Temples. Galleries of American History. Descriptions of The Egyptian Portal Hall of Egyptian Gods and Kings The Roman or Pompeian House The Lecture Hall Moorish Hall of Benzaquin The Assyrian Throne Room Roman Historical Gallery The Cosmorama Hall of the Model of Design FOR National Courts and Galleries OF History and Art- and Hall of Egyptian Arts and Crafts. The halls of the ancients are constructed to illustrate the art, architecture, religion, life and manners of Egyptian, Assyrian, Greco-Roman, and Saracenic nations. Primarily the motive of the enterprise was not a novel and instructive exhibition as a business investment, but to demonstrate the feasibility, with material from modern archaeology, of such re-creations upon a scale cover- ing the entire range of the early nationalities, as proposed in A Design for National Galleries of History and Art. The Halls and their contents are simply specimens of a magnificent whole, conceived and modeled from data of ancient history and remains of ancient constructions. (V. Description of Hall of the Model.) The Egyptian portal and Facade. “ Concerning Egypt, I shall extend my remarks to a great length, because there is no country that possesses so many wonders, nor any that has such a number of works which defy description.” — (Herodotus, B. C. 4S4.) “When from the heights of modern civilization, as from a mount of vision, man endeavors to trace its rise and progress, he loses sight of its origin in the chaos of a remote past, ‘ without form and void ’ ; but from its distant horizon a sheen of light glimmering across the dark expanse breaks into corruscation from the banks of the Nile.” — (Balzac.) “All things were singular or mysterious in this country evermore famous. “ The first pages of human annals entertain us witli its immense works, and the progress of science in our days has not weakened the interest they have always excited. All classical antiquity has preserved for Egypt a renown that proves a government habitually founded upon the true interests of the country.” — (Champollion.) “Architecture is the printing-press of all ages, and gives a history of the state of society in which a structure was erected.” — (Lady Morgan.) The design of The Portal reproduces a section of the Hypostyle Hall of Karnak, with two of its six pairs of columns 70 ft. high and 12 ft. in diam- eter, the largest interior supporting shafts ever reared by man. The capitals, 22 ft. in diameter, have area sufficient for 100 men. The decorations are copied from Egyptian originals. “The temple of Karnak is perhaps the noblest effort of architectural magnificence ever produced. Its principal dimensions are 1200 ft. in length by about 360 in width, covering about 10 acres, or nearly twice the area of St. Peter’s. The Hypostyle Hall is internally greater than the Cathe- dral of Cologne. The mass of its central piers are so arranged and lighted as to give an idea of infinite space; at the same time the massiveness of forms and the brilliancy of colored decorations, combine to stamp this as the greatest of man’s architectural works.” — (Fergusson.) *3 jffa/l of Egyptian Sods and Swings, or Jffa// of Co /umns. Rameses Fighting from His Chariot and Passing Sentence on Captives. The frontispiece is from the drawing for this Hall, which might well be named the Saulenhof, or Hall of Columns, after that built by Lepsius in the Museum of Berlin. It excels the latter in grandeur of dimensions and beauty of decoration. The paintings selected for the walls are more exclu- sively religious and royal symbols and ceremonials — pictorial semblances of godlike conceptions and kingly dignities, with enhanced solemnity by the aisle of vast uplifting columns. The dimensions of the Hall are in length 72 ft., width 33 ft., height 30 ft. Its twelve columns, in pairs, correspond with the order of the Hypo- stvle Hall of Karnak. They are 30 ft. high, 4 ft. 6 inches in diameter, and of three styles of capitals ; the Palm, Lotus-bud, and the Hathor. They are 6 ft. 6 inches higher and one foot in diameter larger than the columns of the Saulenhof. The shafts of the palm columns will be covered with the subjects chosen by Lepsius for Berlin. The Hathor columns, with details from the temple of Dendera, are three-fourths the height of the origi- nals ; the largest of that style in Egypt. It is believed, therefore, that the Hall of Gods and Kings is the most imposing columnar reconstruction from Egypt that has yet been attempted. The largest columns in the Egyptian Court in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park in 1S51 were 17 ft. 6 inches high and 3 ft. 6 inches in diameter. ♦This hall was not finished in 1S98. Thi palm and lotus-bud columns were fully constructed with capitals and the latter decorated. Ceiling and wall decorations, in part with the eight columns, give strong impressions of the grandeur and beauty in completion. 14 EGYPTIAN’ HALL OF COLUMN’S. 15 The ceiling is for decoration in three compartments. One is “ sown with five-pointed golden stars” relieved by beams covered with cartouches and h ieroglvph ic i user iptions. “ The monotony of this Egyptian heaven is farther varied by the winged vultures of Nelsheb and Nati, goddesses of the south and the north, crowned and armed with divine emblems, which hovered above the nave of the Hypo- style Halls and on the under side of the lintels of the great doors above the head of the king as he passed through on his way to the sanctuary.” The King upon His Chariot. The walls of the Hall of Gods and Kings will reproduce the paintings of the procession of the Gods in the Temple of Thothmes III, in Karnak, from which Maspero named it The Processional Hall — copied bv Lepsius in the Saulenhof. The observer of these fantastic expressions of ideals from the religious system of a nation that has left the earliest and most imperishable monuments of its creative genius, and the most ineffaceable records of its faith and worship in existence, should consider that these multiplied tableaux, crowd- ing more and more the surfaces of temples, houses, furniture, and coffins, were deemed — “ to possess a magical property, of which the power and nature were deter- mined by each word inscribed at the moment of consecration. Every subject, therefore, was an amulet as well as an ornament. At the time of the iSth 1 6 HAI.L OK GODS AND KINGS. Dynasty it was thought that two or three such amulets sufficed to compass the desired effect ; but later it was believed there could not be too many. Under the Greeks and Romans the walls were more crowded and the figures more compressed. A chamber of Edfou, or Denderah, yields more material for study than the Hypostyle Hall of Karnak. * * * These multitudes of episodes form the links of one continuous chain * * * in the devel- opment of a religious dogma.”* The lower belt will display kingly scenes from Karnak and Luxor of battle, victory, triumph, tribute, and sacrifice, leading to the greeting and welcome of the gods. These were in sequence of homage and worship. Illustrative objects will be supplied as rapidly as possible, of which draw- Attack of a Fortress. ings, prints, or photographs are on exhibition. On the pavement will be duplicated those accordant with the dignity of the subjects represented upon the surrounding walls. The Throne Pavilion anti Chair set up by Lepsius will be duplicated precisely from a scale-drawing of the original supplied by Herr Bouchard, architect, Berlin. Later the seated statue of Ramesis II (Sesostris) will fill the throne, modeled by Signor Giordani, who has executed the statue of Sennacherib, columns, the altar of the Roman House, and many other details of the Halls. A royal divan, as restored by Hottenroth, in color ; a palanquin, standards, modeled after the most recent and authoritative drawings, casts of gods and kings, it is anticipated will be soon accomplished. Maspero’s Egyptian Archaeology, Chap. II. HALL OF COLUMNS. *7 Thus will be materialized the description of THE PALACE OF AMASIS. “ The lofty reception hall, with its ceiling sown with thousands of golden stars and supported by gaily painted columns, presented a magic appear- ance. Lamps of colored papyrus hung against the walls and threw a strange light on the scene, something like that when the sun’s rays stream through tinted glass. The space between the columns and the walls was filled with choice plants, palms, oleanders, pomegranates, oranges and Palanquins and Carriages.* roses, behind w r hich an invisible band of harp and flute players was stationed, who received the guests with music.” This description is borrowed from paintings on walls which have been reproduced by Wilkinson, Rosetti, Lepsius and others. — (Ebers, “ The Egyptian Princess.”) “ The Witness of the monuments.” “ Some of us can still remember the thrill of half-incredulous surprise with which the earlier announcements of the successful translation of Egyptian hieroglyphics were received. Champollion, following up the hint of our own fellow-countryman Young, found the key (rusty indeed, but still useful) to the monumental inscriptions of ancient Egypt; and, albeit with much groaning of springs and wards, unlocked the gate which led straight back to the long forgotten past. Then Grotefend’s inspired guess opened for us the * Several of the above illustrations are from the German edition of Champollion- Figeac. IS HALL OF GODS AND KINGS. libraries of Assyria and Babylonia. Discovery followed hard upon discovery. Belzoni, Layard, Rawlinson, George Smith, Brugsch. Naville, Sayce, Renouf and others, scholars or explorers, threw themselves into the work, with a result that is little short of marvelous. Cities, temples, statues, books ! The art, science, literature, religion, that had lain for millenniums in the dust of death — all are restored to us. The Very languages these old- world people spoke — the accents of their tongues — we hear their echoes ! “ Their histories, poems, romances, their ledgers, too, and bankingaccounts, the details of their daily business, are in our hands. The lover’s sonnet, the mourner’s plaint, the captive's cry, the hum of the busy city, the tumult of the market place, the tramp of soldiers marching to the war, are in our Judgment of the Soul. ears. The voice of the forgotten multitudes appeals to us, and we feel that we are linked to the venerable civilizationsof the past by the myriad ties of a common nature, a common life. Day by day the truth of the wise man’s apothegm is forced upon us: * There is nothing new under the sun.’ Creeds and customs are alike traced back to an antiquity till now undreamed of. Religion, above all, is found to have preserved, as flies in amber, the ideas which filled the minds of worshipers whose parting prayer was uttered six thousand years ago. Cherubim and Seraphim, the tempting seipent, the scaly dragon, the flaming sword, the tree of life, the solemn Sabbaths — these things were spoken of, with bated breath, by the waters of Babylon, long centuries before Abram set out from Ur for Haran and the land of Canaan. It has already come to this — that we know more intimately the modes of life and thought of the good folk of Memphis, Ur and Erecli of six thousand years ago, than we do of the life of our own Saxon fore- fathers.” — (J. H. S. Moxlky, National Review.) Plan of First Floor E q-V PTIAN HALL Taberna \ or THE OF m Roman or Pompeian < Kinc^s Annex 40^ An D The 4 ? Pompeian or Roman (-Halls. Ub 5co)t ^iax\V\\w ,>N SXvVyVv^tfc. NN . V. VJ ntt, 20 DISCOVERY OF HERCULANEUM, 16S9. The annexed most interesting fac-si miles are from two pamphlets (London, 1750) discovered by Mr. Smith in Leipsig in 1S99. The foot- notes reveal the first published announcements of the discoveries, and that Herculaneum was found before Pompeii. MEMOIRS CONCERNING HERCULANEUM, THE SuBTER R/VNEAN ClTY, Lately difeovered at the Foot of Mount Fefuvius , GIVING A particular Account of the molt remarkable Buildings, Statues, Paintings, Medals, and other Curiofities found there to the pre- fent Time, IBS Us* ) R the $at:sfa£hon or o new and unexpeftfd CHAP. I. An A '.count of the firjl Dif overies in 16S9, and 1711. if the curio 9 Enquirer, into a M.ater, now brought to -ight from fo ren ete a Tune, it may be necefnry o begin this Ditcotirfe from die f.rft Attempts made in the latter End of the daft Age. Therefore I fnail recount all that is faid on that Subjtft, in the Memoirs of the royal Academy of Paris (1) ; and alio by the celebrated M. Bior.- tbini, in his Book of Lniverfal Hiftory (z). “ At the Foot of r his Mountain, ..bout two Miles from the “.Sea, in the Year 1689, fome Earth having been removed, “ the Workmen obferved Layers of E rth. that feemed dif- “ poied in Order, as if they were Floors or Pavements, placed “ horizontally over each other. “ Tne Owner of the Ground being inclinable on this Occ.l- “ Sion to fearch farther, conti- tmd tne Digging, and under the “ fourth Layer, found fome Stones with Imcriptiom on them ; “ on which he ordered, that they fhould continue their Search “ till the Water prevented them. (1) Memoires d* Literature tnm. 15. Des etr.brafemenKio Mont Vefuve. (1) Iftoria Univerfalc di Mrnliftnor Bianchmi. Rona 1699. pag. 246.6 Ivi 1748. DISCOVERY OF HERCULANEUM, 16S9. ?■! / The Congratulations of the Commonwealth of Learning in the North, On Account of the'Annent Monuments, which have been dug out of the lately dilcovered City of Herculaneum , in the Kingdom of Naples. From an Academical Oration of John Matthias Gelher, Public Profcjfor in tie Royal LFiiverfty of Gottingen, for performing the Ten Years Solemnities of , that Univerfity, and commencing v.ru> ones, pul'lijied at Gottingen in September 1747. T HE Report of an antient City about to be dug up out of the Allies and Rubbifh of Mount Vefuvius , which the French, Britiji, and German Papers called //<•- taclea , but which rhey fr.ould with gre ter Propriety nitr.e Her - f.uhnum, or Herculaneum , that Report, 1 lay, which for feveral Years pad had been fpread throughout Germany , hath been dome time revived. For this Sea port Town, fituated a few Miles Dillance from the very Opening of Vefuvius , Part of it having already fallen m the Confulffiipof Regulus arid Virginias, and the Remainder bemg in 3 tottering Condition, a few Years after, that is, in the fsrft known Eruption of Vefuvius, was utterly fwallowed up, burnt, and overwhelmed by the Sand, Aflies, and. Stones, which were call out of its hor- rible Cavity. While therefore Charles King of the two Sicilies , whofe Diligence in furr.ifliing his Gallery is elfewhere celebrated, was founding new S'rrudlures and Villas; it is affirmed, that there were diicoveicd not only trifling Reliques, fuch as Statues, Pil- lars, and Urn$; but evidently an entire City, and in it Koufes furniflied, and Men completely habited, as they had been fur- prized by the Calamiry. I am not now at Leifure to inquire whether what we read of the newly found City carries an Air of Credibility; or by what Means l’o many Things could he preferved entire for eighteen hundred Years. When it appears by the Teflimony of credible Witnelfes, what hath been found, it will be a proper Scalon for fucli Enquiries. I am rather in- clined to dwell a little upon no unpleafing Speculation. If we may be permitted to fuppofe, that thole Things arc true, which a e related upon no fufficient Authority, wh3t a new' Face of Things, what a furprifing Acquifition of Learnirg,wili hence atife 1 What mighty Contentions of Antiquaries will fublide by the Removal of the Dull of Vefuvius ! And how many new ones will 22 DISCOVERY OF HERCULANEUM, 16S9. rake their Place' Suppofe any one Book fo be fourth, what Knowledge would the Curious in that Part of Learning acquire ; fince not fo much as one Paper written by the Pen of any learned Hand, nor one Leaf maiked by any skilful Pencil, of that Age, is arrived to the prelent 1 But if Fortune fhould regard Men ffudiousol Antiquity, with fo much Benignly, as to pro- duce from that Sepulchre, one complete DioJoru, Si cuius, uhofe Book, inrclcd Library, no doubt, adorned the Librai ies of that Age and Neighbourhood; any whole Polybius, or Salhj?, or (a Gift perhaps too valuable for our Deferts ') a Livy, or Tacitus, or the latter Part of the Fafh of Ovid ; or, tp have an Eye principally to our oven Country, thofe twenty Books of the Wars of Germany, which the elder Pliny began,- w hen ho bore Arms there; nay, if the whole Library of any learned Man Should be found (and. as the Villas in that Neighbourhood w ere furnilhed with thole of Licero and Lurullus ; fo without qneltion .they were with the Libraries of others, of which Places of Retirement they are not the meanelf Ornaments); what a Treafure to learned Men would thence accrue ! Would rot that be, as it were, the Reftoration of the Roman Majefty ? Would it not be a kind of happy Revolution of Times? This wonderful Collcftiori cf Antiquities will become larger and more compleat, as the Work proceeds ; and the Learned will fit.d more new Monuments to clear their Doubts, concern- ing an infinite Number of Hiftorical Fails, as well as the Cuf- toms, Arts, and religiot s Ceremonies of the Antients- LONDON: Printed for D. Wilson Bookfeller, at Plato’s Head, near Round, Court , in the Strand. MDCCL, A RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER, POMPEII. ORIGINAL BY PROF. F1SCHETTI, OF NAPLES. TJhe ffiomcin or ^Pompeian Jfouse POMPEII. Go, seek Pompeii now; —With pensive tread Roam through the silent city of the dead. Explore each spot, where still in ruin grand Her shapeless piles and towering columns stand, Where the pale ivy’s clasping wreaths o’ershade The ruined Temple’s moss-clad colonnade. Or violets on the hearth’s cold marble wave. And muse in silence on a people’s grave. ****** Now shall thy deathless memory live entwined With all that conquers, rules or charms the mind. — Macaulay VESUVIUS, A. D. 79. It is conceoeu by all travelers that Pompeii is the most interesting and impressive sight in all Europe. It combines with the charm of antiquity, the most interesting vol- canic phenomenon the world has known. All are in a measure familiar with the terrible fate of Pompeii ; its complete oblivion for nearly two thousand years, and a resurrection which has given this Roman city a power to interest, un- equalled even by the Im- perial capital. From the numerous private houses now ex- cavated in Pompeii, the houses of Pansa and of Vettius were selected as models from being the rros' extensive and most perfect in plan, and consequently the best known. In proportion and arrangement, this reproduction is nearly identical. In 1S95 the House of Vettius was uncovered. Its plan and decorations *3 PI- AN' OF A ROMAN HOUSE. were more luxurious and elegant than those of any dwelling hitherto exhumed. More than one hundred photographs and colored transcripts of the paintings on its walls, its ground plan and casts of the objects in the peristyle were ordered for the Roman House of the Halls of the Ancients, and many have been reproduced. See pages annexed. The arrangement of the houses of Pompeii was generally upon the plan of all Roman houses of the period, and conformed closely to the prescribed proportions of Vitruvius, the architect whose authoritative work has come The Atrium, TabunUm, and Peristylium. down to us. It therefore lends an additional interest to the Pompeian house, that in it we see the usual Roman habitations in the time of Christ. The doors will be in accurate reproduction after casts in the Museum at Pompeii ; detailed drawings of which were supplied by Prof. Fischetti. Casts were made by pouring plaster into cavities left in the scoria;, where the doors had left their imprint before decay. A GRAND ROMAN HOUSE : ILLUSTRATING THE ART, ARCHITECTURE, MYTHOLOGY, AND CUSTOMS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.* No. i. The Vestibule — Opens inwardly upon the Atrium, or hall. The first object which greets the eye is a fierce dog in the act of springing * A more complete description of the Roman House and the Painting of the ATRIUM — CUBICULA — AL.-E. 2 5 upon the visitor. This device, in Mosaic, was common to the larger houses, and indicates that it was a reminder of a dangerous dog within ; quite necessary where houses stood so invitingly open. Beneath is written the warning “ Cave Canem,” (Beware of the dog). In the vestibule are brackets with busts called “ The p-reat and good.” This was a custom not only in Pompeii, but Rome; by which Socrates, Plato, Cicero, Ilomer and others were installed as exemplars. “ Salve ” (welcome) greets the visitor from the pavement as he enters. Nos. 2, 3. The small rooms at the side of the vestibule were occupied by porters, who not unfrequently were chained slaves. No. 4. The Vestiakium, or Wardrobe. No. 5. The Atrium was an imposing hall, where the master of the house received all who were not admitted to the inner apartments. In the center of the roof is seen the Compluvium (with a sacrificial cornice of festoons and skulls of bulls), toward which the roof sloped in order to throw the rainwater into the Impluvium ; a marble pool in the floor, where the fountain throws its cooling spray into the air— the bottom painted as the reflection of the sky above. In the frieze of the Compluvium roof, are lion’s heads through which spouts carried the water into the pool, whence they passed into other cisterns, to be used for household purposes. Tables, chairs, couches, musical instruments, tripods, candelabra, and all other furniture have been reproduced from originals preserved in the Naples Museum or from wall pictures found in Pompeii and Herculaneum and models in the Naples Museum. The lamps also are modelled from one of the richest patterns in the great work on antiquities of Herculaneum. The chair of the Muses will be recognized as familiar in ancient Greek bas-relief. f^PASS TO THE RIGHT, through the house, for numbered rooms in their order. No. 6, 7. Are Cubiculv (bedrooms). These Cubicula are the exact size of those in the stately House of Pansa. Specially noticeable is the bed made after the bronze original exhumed in Pompeii, with its exquisite modelling. No. S. Ai..«, or wings, on either side of the Tablinum, were recesses used for rest, or conversation. The ceilings are precise in size and color from the richest specimen published by Nicollini, in the most superb work yet issued upon Pompeian relics and art. Grandeur of Rome, is issued as a separate Hand-book. Details therein of Roman Life and Manners, with illustrations of their architectural environment, published during the last ten years, to the extent of 250,000 copies, from the House of Pansa, at Saratoga, have incited a demand for it as a text-book for classic instruction in many colleges and seminaries. 26 THE TABLINUM. No. 9. The Tablinum, a central apartment, entered from the center of the Atrium. This was the private retreat of the master of the house ; his Sanctum, where, in cabinets, were kept busts of ancestors, family archives, and srenealogical tables, the latter giving the name to the room. The ceiling of the Tablinum is decorated with copies of the famous Mosaics from the Villa of Diomedes, exhibited in the National Museum at Naples. A general view suggests a collection of orchids. The cabinets are supplied with fac-similes of ancient papyrus manuscripts The Tablinum. and rolls of Latin, simulating accurately the books of the Pompeians The busts are in part to illustrate kindred 5 and therefore are not all contempo- raneous. The “ Strong Box ” is a precise copy of one in the Museum at Naples; as may be recognized from the plate therewith of Signor Monaco. It will be seen from the various copies of mural paintings found in Pompeii that draperies were used, both at doors and windows, although no such textiles could, of course, have survived the destruction, even in carbon- ization. No. 10. From the Atrium again, we turn to the right into the Fauces (the jaws), a narrow passage which obviated passing through the I'abli- jium to inner apartments. The principal ot these is — THE PERISTYLIUM THE EXEDRP . No. ii. The Peristylium, a court or hall still larger than the Atrium, with fourteen columns inclosing a space called the Viridarium, with Pan and a Satyr among the verdure. Above was another opening admitting air and light. Here were given private entertainments, when the colonnade was festooned with garlands of roses and was gay with birds of gorgeous plumage. Here beneath subdued lights moved those stately men and women, in their classic robes, while music from flute and lyre stole upon the ear from slaves concealed above. It is here that Sir Bulwer Lvtton The I'tRisTYUUM. depicts the meetings of the beautiful lone with Glaucus and Arbaces in the “ Last Days of Pompeii.” The ceiling of the Peristyle is copied from the Baths of Titus. Few ceilings escaped destruction in the falling of burning rafters during the catastrophe. No. 12. The Exedra, or conversation room, supplied the place of the modern drawing-room, although the peristylium rivalled it in elegance. Here were the choicest adornments of a rich Pompeian house. The bas-relief and engraving upon the wall illustrate the visit of Bacchus to Icarius — revealing that the Romans reclined in social converse, on couches large enough for several persons, and that Icarius did not rise in homage to the heaven- born son of Tove. 3 3S THE BALNEUM — THE TRICLINIUM. No. 13. A Cubiculum. In a room of corresponding size and position was found the skeleton of a woman with exquisite jewelry. Her finger bone, encircled with rings found on it, is preserved in the Naples Museum. The wall panels are filled with replica of Pompeian paintings. No. 14. A Cubiculu.m. It contains six of a series of paintings by Mr. C. II. Ingraham, of Philadelphia, views in Pompeii, painted on the spot, during two years’ residence in Naples. Others are in the Atrium and Peristylium. No. 15. Balneum, or bath-room. The wall of this room is from the unique decoration of the bath-room in Diomedes’ villa — a representation of deep sea-water, with fish. The Exedra. No. 16. The Winter Triclinium (dining-room), named from the couches surrounding the table, as Romans always reclined during meals. The size of the couch was in accordance with the rule that the number at dinner should never be less than the Graces (three), or more than the Muses (nine), except- ing, of course, in larger banquets. Grand houses had two Triclinia, for winter or summer use, but the ancients were much addicted to the pleasures of the table, and called frequently into requisition the CEcus, or large hall. At such times the floor was strewn thickly with sawdust stained in bright colors, and at one end of the hall slaves danced during the meal. A silver hoop suspended above the table held chaplets of flowers, or even of silver, for distribution among the guests. Guests reclined upon the side, with the left elbow resting upon a cushion. SUMMER TRICLINIUM — L A L A R I U M . 2 9 Over the wall is placed a copy, by Zurcher, of Boulanger’s “ Feast of Lucullus.” The table service has been selected carefully in classic forms. No. 17. Summer Triclinium. Here in the summer the Pompeian fami- lies took their meals beneath the shade of trellised grapevines as screen from sun-rays. Flowers lined the walls, on which were panelled pictures making vistas — loopholes for the imagination to range beyond the narrow inclosure. The dining-couch is an exact reproduction of one remaining in Pompeii, and SuMMtR Triclinium — I.alarium. A class from Washington High School at study in the Hortus ; photographed for U. S. Educa- tional Exhibit at Exposition in Paris in 1900. at its precise distance from the garden walls. The panels are painted in oil from originals in Herculaneum. The Amphorce were made either to stand in the ground or to be set in c ther vessels, and held wine, oil, etc. The vases were used for bolding water, wheat, and other articles of food. The base in masonry for a couch is a precise replica of one still in Pompeii. No. iS. The Lai.arxum, or household temple. Here the family propi- tiated their “ Lares and Penates” with flowers, fruits, and the blood of ani- mals. The altar is a precise reproduction in scale and decoration from that 3 ° (ECUS HOKTUS — CULINA. remaining in the House of Vettius. Details of the painting were taken by Mr. Smith in June, 1899. Nos. 19-20. The (Ecus, or large hall, was an innovation borrowed by Pompeians from the Greeks. It was used for a banquet hall. The propor- tions were so regulated as to accommodate two I'riclinia , their respective couches facing each other, with space for servants to pass between and around them. The Hortus (garden), with walls oil painted in the fantastic style, always followed in their outside work. The first in order represents a disciple of Bacchus after a revel ; the second, a more noble Roman, recumbent, in thoughtful mood; another subject is “Orpheus charming the animals” with his lyre. As soon as practicable, illustrations of Roman masonry will be placed in the Hortus with the specimens from Roman Baths in England. No. 21. Culina (kitchen). This was between the two Triclinia, and the brick stove in this room is a model of that found in the House ofPansa. When the cooks took flight they left loaves of bread, eggs, nuts, and many other articles of food which are found in a fossilized state. Spits for roast- ; n p ZJ cd .3 a :-•!» s SP c O ^ 0 O cd 0) ’3d cd P cd u U Q 5 ed ca u '- _* o CO 5 > L ' ’ «-* O cd *• /■> u V- w CA 0 2 O t u Pi rrf O o 3 (A Id u £ cd u a> o ’S> c/T 0 3 o a> O S .1 | a o ^ a -*5 •Q £ "S * § 3 o o P o CJ o o * a to ^ o IS u *cd .fi to ^ 2 w cd O £ u o s 4> -*-» S 3 r- 0) bio cd 8 £ js io 2 § 8 i v£> ^ . 'S 3 ! sj « '-C be io o Ih *3 cd 5 8 /< ,Q « ° Id « V *■£ a cd to £ o o ‘is 8 . « 5= g O 0) CA r3 a> cd + ca £ M : 8 a s 8 c/T 5 DESCRIPTION OF THE DESIGN AND PLAN. I shall * * * straight conduct ye to a hill-side, where I will point ye out the right path of a virtuous and noble education; laborious, indeed, at the first ascent, but else so smooth, so green, so full of goodly prospect, and melodious sounds on every side, that the harp of Orpheus was not more charming. — Milton. Earth proudly wears the Parthenon as the best gem upon her zone. — Emerson. Since it (architecture) is music in space, it is, as it were a frozen music. — Schell- ING. The design exhibits eight courts and galleries, viz, Egyptian, Assyrian, Creek, Roman, Byzantine, Mediaeval, .Saracenic, and East Indian, sur- mounted by American galleries for illustration of the history of the United States, and a memorial Parthenonic temple; this temple to contain a hall of the Presidents, an American Walhalla, such as stands to-day in grandeur and beauty of marble upon a hilltop of the Danube, a proud manifestation of the patriotism and artistic inspiration of the Bavarian people. Its colonnade may ultimately range the horizon as a counterpart to the stately dome of the Capitol — the one an expression of the highest constitutional wisdom, the other of its resultant intellectual development of a nation. The courts are to contain reproductions in full size of dwellings, tem- ples, monuments, etc., of their respective nationalities, typical of their religion, life, and art. It is proposed that the ranges of galleries inclosing the courts be filled with mural paintings, illustrating in its orderly, chronological succession the history of the peoples whose architecture is shown upon their walls, similar to the pictorial history of Bavaria in the National Museum in Munich, the side corridors being filled with casts and models, archi- tectural, artistic, and historical, supplying abundant material for eluci- dation in study. The galleries to be built of fine Portland cement sand concrete, pre- cisely the material already tested in the great hotel constructions in St. Augustine, the Stanford Museum in California, and the Pompeia at 4i 42 DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN AND PLAN. Saratoga Springs. The cheapness of concrete construction as less than that of ordinary brickwork has already been proven by the constructions above named. The entire range of galleries will demand ultimately 60 to 70 acres of land. The courts for reconstructions cover 4 to 5 acres each. The entire floor area of galleries is about 40 acres, or 8 acres less in surface than one building of the Chicago Exposition. The cost of all constructions finally completed in concrete will not be over $10,000,000, one-half that of Philadelphia City Hall. The facade will lie continuous for 1 ,200 feet; more than one-half longer than the Capitol, 750 feet. While the design, in the combined perspective of its parts, equals or excels in grandeur the National Capitol, it is, in fact, composed of the most simple and durable constructions possible for their purposes, viz, ranges of galleries of one story with basement, terraced upon a hillside. The National Galleries of the American Republic, it is proposed, shall surpass in architectural grandeur and extent all similar constructions; but while grandly monumental in effect they shall lie thoroughly utili- tarian as an educational institution. 1 All expenditure in their creation will be in economical use for intellectual elevation of the people. Crowning a height is represented the Parthenon, 2 one-half greater than the original at Athens, with other temples of the same pure and stately order, all for commemoration of Presidents and patriots of the United States of America. At the right and the left of the commemorative temples will be colon- nades for the promenade of the people, that they may look down upon a “marble population” of the great and good of the nation, as did the Greeks upon their gods and heroes. The irregular constructions that covered the steep hills of Rome are herein replaced by galleries and porticos, as systematic and lieautiful in aspect as they will have been unsurpassed in extent. Descending from the esplanade of the Parthenon, successive terraces support galleries and courts proportioned to the extent and importance of historic periods and races, for orderly delineation of life and art through the ages — Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, East Indian, Mediaeval, and Saracenic. These will present the amazing grandeur that arose from the Forum of Rome to the summit of the Capitoline Hill. From their colossal portal extends a Via Sacra, through memorial colums and arches. This sketch limns a vision of the splendor of Athens in the Peri- clean age; for it is an appropriate fact to recall that the structures which were the glory of all antiquity, which have been models for all subsequent ages as combining “ a perfection of solemn and wondrous 1 Addenda. Addenda No. 3. THK AMERICAN ACROPOLIS. 43 harmony,” were from the impulsion of a democracy, conceived and wrought under one master, Phidias, in the time of Pericles, in a period of thirteen years. It will be a transcendent honor for our Republic if it shall celebrate a century of progress by creations which shall win from posterity the trib- ute of Demosthenes to the Athenians : No. 25. — The colonnade of the Forum of Pompeii, restored ; for the Portico of American Gallerie on the Potomac. Our ancestors were inspired not by the desire of wealth, but by the love of glory; and, therefore, they have left us immortal possessions — the memory of illustrious deeds and the beauty of the works consecrated to them. P'ive centuries later Plutarch wrote : These works appear at the present time fresh and newly wrought; the}' seem to wear the bloom of perpetual youth; its glow untouched by time, as if they breathed the breath of immortality anr^ had a soul that age could never reach. In these courts should be reproduced structures typical of the highest development in the respective styles. The Byzantine of St. Sophia, the 44 DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN AND PLAN. Gothic of the Carapo Santo, the tracery of the Alhambra, and the pierced screenwork of the Taj, will be grouped in superb proximity, and with effective contrast to the overshadowing dignity and grandeur of classic and Egyptian orders . 1 It will inspire enthusiasm to study realistic por- trayals of ancient life in the restored architectural environment of each nationality, exclusive of all modern surroundings. In the inclosures of the galleries should be placed reproductions such as herein mentioned, and casts in concrete of antiquarian remains. For instance, the early Christian crosses of Iona and other places in England and Ireland, full-sized specimens of rich fountains, cloisters, the gorgeous portals of Spain, etc. The effect may be superb, mingled with verdure and herbage. •■Ji-TVRES SECTION .f GALLERIES Renwick, Aspinwall & Rcssell, Architects. No. 26.— A Constructional Section of the Galleries. Reproductions of the divers nationalities should serve as museums of their life, manners, industries, etc. Houses of the ancients should be reproduced, like the Pompeian home of Pansa, at Saratoga, with apartments revealing their domestic life, manners, religious symbolism, art industries, etc. Instead of a house of Pansa, a dwelling from a small provincial city, there should be recreated the house of Scaurus as elaborated by Mazois, a Roman palace of great extent and grandeur that would moderate our estimate of modern attainments. It would reveal the excellence of art and the splendor even of domestic architecture that were annihilated by ’This variety may suggest incongruities of mixed architecture. The proposed height of the galleries with their basements will screen the contents of each court, in the silhouette of the sky line, except with domes, towers, and columns, which can be selected to enhance the general effect. REPRODUCTIONS PROPOSED. 45 the deluge of northern barbarians upon the Roman world, as was Pompeii entombed by Vesuvius. Such realistic revelations would be tangible to those ignorant of the glowing pages of Gibbon, and waken curiosity to hunt the facts of history. A mediaeval castle should have its banqueting hall, and gather the arms, furniture, metal work, etc., of its age. Indian gorgeousness should be shown with the traceried ornamentation of the Orient. The Kensington Museum has original interiors of rooms from Cairo and Damascus, with their jalousies and lattices, but miserably placed in a dark, low, narrow, and crowded hall. Instead of two rooms, the National Galleries of the United States should have a house of full pro- portions, with all the elaboration of oriental handiwork and the gorgeous- ness of the harem. R., A. & R., Architects. No. 27. — Roman Pantlieon and Lecture Halls. In such details Europe would have no advantage. By proper juxta- position of articles only is their purpose revealed. The Moucharabieh that screens the women of the East may as well be bought in Cairo for Washington as for London. In the show case of a museum objects are often meaningless that would have great interest in proper environment. These creations would be the utmost possible compensation to the great majority of the people, who in the limits of economy can not range the earth for either study or pastime. They would be substitutions for the monuments of the Old World, which are themes for admiration- and romance. By their combination in their respective surroundings they would outweigh all existing works for the inspiration and stimulus of genius. 46 DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN AND PLAN. The accommodation of the constructions above proposed on 60 acres of land, it is believed, is clearly vindicated by facts, comparisons, and statis- tics appended. It is seen that the galleries are of simple and uniform design, of eco- nomical form, of cheap, yet enduring material, and are without external ornamentation. The plan provides for 16,000 feet range of picture galleries and 40,000 feet range of corridors for statuary, casts, models, etc. The galleries in part will have basements for storage, workshops, etc., with basements. R., A. & R , Architects. No. 28. — Greek Theater. The central, or picture, galleries have top light, and may be the counter- part of the Louvre; the corridors would have side light, as in the Vatican. When the 16,000-feet range of picture galleries is divided among eight periods or nationalities, an average of about 2,000 feet to each, with allowances for entrances, alcoves for seats, etc., it will be seen to be a minimum estimate, especially for the historical series of paintings and other pictorial object lessons hereinafter proposed. The corridors (halls for casts, models, and the field covered by the Bavarian National Museum above cited) will rapidly overflow, in accord with all precedents. The basement stories throughout the structures will be indispensable. Extensive shops would be required for the multiplication of all objects practicable for distribution to local institutions throughout the land, as now such treasures are distributed by England and France. 1 1 It was a mortification to find the ateliers of the mouleur-en-chef of the Louvre, and even the half-underground passages thereto, crowded with cases for American institutions and citizens, of casts to be imported at an expense of 100 per cent with the tariff tax. These long since should have been supplied from our national insti- tutions. It was a greater aggravation to the writer to be taxed 40 and 60 per cent upon bronzes, terra cottas, etc., for importation of replica from Pompeii, and to be assessed likewise upon architectural models for the Pompeia from the British Museum, the Louvre, and Ecole des Beaux Arts, of Paris. It is to be hoped that such fines upon artistic and educational work for our country will soon be relieved, and that art will be free. TIIE CONSTRUCTIONS. 47 There would be a chief moulder and staff, as at the Louvre; potteries and kilns for terra cotta; photograph and electrotype departments; modelers in clay, plaster, and wood; receiving and shipping offices, storerooms, guardians’ quarters, etc. It is claimed as a special merit of the present design that it provides for future enlargement in harmony, both architectural and practical, with the existing buildings, and without disturbance of all previous material for rearrangement with accessions. The ground plan of the Kensington Museum— crowded, awkward, irregular — is already obstructive by its limits, as stated iu its publications. R., A. & R., Architects. No. 29. — Au Exterior Angle Tower. Extracts from “The Preface’’ of a “Catalogue of the Casts from the Antique iu the South Kensington Museum’’: The principal objects aimed at in the formation of the historically arranged Museum of Casts from the antique are: I. To give the artist the opportunity of studying the best representatives of the different periods of Greek Art. II. To provide the archaeologist with the indispensable means of studying his science and of illustrating his lectures. III. Relates to advantages afforded to students. IV. To inform amateurs who are about to visit foreign museums where the best remains of ancient plastic art are to be found. [We would bring casts of all these “best remains” at once to our National Gallery.] V. Relates to the educational influence upon the public. But au explanatory note adds an important caution. Although the catalogue numbers but 271 specimens of the thousands that can be 4 8 DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN AND PLAN. cheaply commanded, and refers students to foreign museums for others, yet the area is confusedly crowded. It is said: The arrangement is in the main chronological. We say in the main, because the gallery assigned to the collection does not admit of this arrangement being rigidly adhered to. The larger reliefs have had to be placed out of their proper sequence on the walls as suitable space, considerations of light, etc., determined. The government of the British Museum is embarrassed with its riches in the Townley marbles and other accumulations. The building that was supposed ample for the library and natural-history collection and museum must be given only to books. The museums of Boston and New York have made their moderate R., A. & R., Architects. No. 30. — Entrance Pavilion in Colonnade. growth in about thirty years for the lack of space. As soon as an addition is obtained it is filled. The contents of the Cluny and the Trocadero museums crowd their premises. Versailles, almost exclusively a gallery of paintings, lias a range of 1,300 feet, repeated probably ten times, say 13,000 feet on different floors, and by the side walls of apartments built for bed chambers, ball rooms, and banqueting halls, yet it is compactly filled. Its historical series numbers 1,204 paintings, probably requiring 2 miles in range for proper exhibition. The National Library of France covers 3^ acres, demanded for books and their use. The new National Library at Washington covers 4 acres in a plot of 6 acres of ground. FRENCH GALLERIES. 49 The School of Fine Arts in Paris has its dark attics packed under rafters to the eaves with valuable casts that can only be selected by the crouching of the purchaser with the dim light of a candle. The catalogue of the Louvre objects moulded for sale numbers 1,169 specimens, and includes Egyptian , Assyrian, Ninevite, and Phoenician relics, as well as classic and modern. In the latter it is rich of the French School, Jean Goujon, German Pilon, etc. Brucciani, of London, offers 1,489 specimens upon sale, besides the catalogue of the British Museum of reproductions of ancient marbles, bronzes, etc., Egyptian, Assyrian, and the famous fragments of the Parthenon, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, etc. The Assyrian sculptures number 60 slabs, averaging about 30 square ■f .1 B. M. Goodhue, Pinxt. No. 31.— Court of the Lions, Alhambra, for Arabic Court. feet each of surface. These figures illustrate the capacity demanded for such exhibitions, even in fragments. These 60 bas-reliefs, many of them 7 to 8 feet in length, are offered for ^308 ($1,540), packed for shipment. The Vatican contains a museum of twenty courts. It is an irregular mass of buildings, covering a space 1,200 feet long by 1,000 feet broad, of several stories. The buildings enlarged in emergency are very irregular in plan. * Its galleries of vast extent are filled with but one class of archteologi- cal remains. Before reaching the main entrance a corridor, 2,000 leet in length, is walled with ancient Pagan and Christian inscriptions. This S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 2 4 50 DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN AND PLAN. exceeds in length the entire range of galleries proposed for the illustra- tion of Roman history; but the plan provides on either side the same range for the casts of statuary and divers objects. The galleries should also be utilized extensively for topographical models of the Acropolis, the Forum, etc. These are the most tangible realizations possible of the relative size and position of objects. The model of the Pueblo of Zuny, in the Smithsonian Institution, is an admirable specimen of such works. It is upon a small scale, yet it measures 18 feet 6 inches by 9 feet 6 inches. Beneath are boxes of implements and pottery that should be seen with it; unopened, for want of space. The cast of the Aztec Sacrificial Stone, in the Smithsonian B. W. Goodhue, Designer. No. 32. — Taj Mehal for Indian Court. Institution, measures 10 feet in diameter, and the calendar is 12 feet wide. Such models are not costly, and for them a large area should be anticipated. The walls of the corridors should supply ample space also for casts of inscriptions. Most lilieral selections should be brought from the Chris- tian Museum of the Lateran, founded as lately as Pius IX; its Christian sarcophagi of the fourth and fifth centuries; its inscriptions and paint- ing from the Catacombs. Pictures of these in boolA give no such vivid impressions as exact counterparts in size, color, and perspective. Such thrilling memorials of eras from which flowed and widened the tides of modern civilizations should be precisely duplicated. CONTENTS OF THE CORRIDORS. 51 Systematic search for inscriptions, etc., is now made with great zeal throughout the territory of ancient Greece. Cyrene, Halicarnassus, Rhodes, Ephesus, and other places have been explored by the English; Athens, by Greeks and English; Olympia, by Greeks and Germans; Cyprus, by General Cesnola, and other sites by French and Germans. The American .School at Athens, it was expected, would secure the concession of an exploration of Delphos. Unfortunately, the subscrip- tion of $80,000 was too late, and the French secured the opportunity. It is now at work upon Corinth. ■ There are now preserved from 20,000 to 30,000 Greek inscriptions, from which most valuable literary and archaeological data have been R., A. & K., Architects. No. 33. — Gothic Hall ill Gothic Court. secured. It is, indeed, to be desired that Americans may yet secure a share of these scholastic records and relics. In further vindication of the scale for the National Galleries, compara- tive measurements and areas are given. The Capitol of the United States has a frontage of 751 feet by 324 feet, covering with porticoes and steps 153,1 12 square feet, or 3^ acres Square feet. The American Parthenon (upon the plan) covers with its por- ticoes 200 feet by 450 feet 90, 000 The American Galleries with porticoes cover 165,000 255,000 But the walls of these buildings inclose only 132,125 square feet, or less than 3 acres. 52 DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN AND PLAN. / The parallelogram of the old and new Louvre of Paris covers 2,640 feet (more than half a mile) by 1,008 feet in width. With the Tuile- ries, the buildings covered 24 acres — an area repeated more than four times in different floors — that is, there must have been more than 100 acres of flooring. Deducting the portions used for governmental departments, there must be a much larger area of gallery and museum space occupied than in the American institute designed. Yet its halls are packed; its basements crowded with its ateliers and storage. And this, it should lx? remembered, is but one of the French museums, besides Versailles, the Cluny, the Luxembourg, etc. The illustrations of Roman history, proposed for a historical series of paintings, would need a range of 2,000 feet. The art gallery of The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, measures 515 feet by 375 feet. Its two floors therefore equal 5,150 feet of range of gal- leries, 75 feet in width. The Palais de 1 ’Industrie, Paris, for exhibition of works of art, is 800 feet long and 1 15 feet high. It is not expected that the entire range of buildings would be immedi- ately completed. But the above facts prove that the vast galleries pro- posed are no exaggeration for the inevitable demand. The experience of all existing similar institutions vindicates their necessity. In strength and durability no masonry, however hard the stone or large the blocks, could ever equal these Roman walls of concrete; for each wall was one perfect coherent mass, and could only he destroyed by a laborious process like that of quar- rying hard stone from its native bed. — Encyclopaedia Britannica. It is self-evident that structures of the National Galleries should he — ■ First. Imperishable by fire or decay. Second. Impervious to moisture or vermin. Third. Independent of external repairs. These are essentials. Most desirable for permanent satisfaction is an architecture of standard purity in design, of dignity' and beauty in effect. These essential requirements must be found in the nature of the material. Alone to be named for these qualities are: (i) Stone or marble; (2) brick; (3) concrete. They are named in the order of general popularity, but in the reverse order of real value. Experience has demonstrated that their order of merit for the above requirements is: (1) Concrete; (2) brick; (3) stone or marble. After the fire in Chicago a commission investigated the comparative fireproof qualities of material in the ruins, and reported their order as: (1) Concrete; (2) brick; (3) stone. The Boston fire swept streets of ' “ Sublimity is nearly impossible in brickwork. The smallness of the material is such a manifest incongruity with largeness of parts that even the Romans, though they tried hard, could never quite overcome the difficulty.” KkrguSON. ‘‘The ancients used brick, cased over with plaster as smooth as glass.” — Rollin. Such was the construction of the Baths of Caracalla, etc.; vast and magnificent piles. It is to be regretted that the late national buildings along the future park, from the Capitol to the Potomac, do not rise in grandeur above the factories of Lowell in the poverty of their brick walls. 53 54 concrete construction. granite blocks into ruins even more quickly than if the}-, had been of wood. Sheets of flame spread over ranges of granite warehouses; slates flew into fragments; the iron beams and girders warped and bent, while the stone blocks cracked, tumbling the so-called fireproof piles into heaps of ruins before the wooden floor beams were half consumed. By concrete is commonly understood a conglomerate of broken stone or gravel, sand, and cement, according to the formulas of General Gill- more and other authorities. For the use herein debated for construc- tions above ground is intended a finer concrete of sand only with Portland cement , as more dense, therefore less porous, and presenting a finer and F. W. Smith, Architect. No. 34. — Villa Zorayda The first concrete building in St. Augustine. 1882. more uniform surface and tint than the coarser mixture. Facts are appended in demonstration of the values in ordinary concretes both in ancient and modern use. For foundations it is universally accepted as of greatest value. Fortifications arid large structures of the highest class, the Washington Monument, the Bartholdi Statue, etc., are based on con- crete. The Hotel Metropole, London, has a foundation of concrete, reenforced by “65 miles of band iron.” But in walls above ground there is less familiarity with its use, and custom excites timidity in its adoption. The sand and Portland cement concrete proposed was the material qualities of concrete. 55 used in the construction of the Villa Zorayda and the Hotel Casa- Monica, 1 in St. Augustine, there with a fraction of “coquina” or shell. It was employed in the Pompeia at Saratoga Springs, on the exterior wall and for pavement, and in the interior for columns, architraves, etc. These have withstood the severe frosts of ten winters in Saratoga absolutely unaffected, except to increased hardness. The facade is a concrete facing upon brick, precisely upon the Roman method, and all its lines and angles are as perfect as when finished in 1889. Blocks of the material left upon the ground since that date show no effect whatever of temperature or storms more than granite or marble. I11 fact, many stones used for building purposes in the United States cleave by frosts. The steps upon the east front of the Capitol are wrecked by lateral cleavage in seams, and must soon be restored. Concrete staircases may be seen in Geneva, Switzer- land, for ascents from the streets, as solid and homogeneous as flint. It has been used sufficiently to demonstrate its solidity and strength ; its increasing hardness beyond any natural stone ; its resistance to cold at 20 degrees below zero ; its capa- bility to receive any required tint in color except white, and its cheapness against brickwork. The use of concrete has lately been familiar in cities for pavemdnts which are exposed to the most severe action of frost. 2 Fortunately the latitude of Washington, with its gentle climate, dispenses with mucl expense against this risk. In its adoption we are returning not only* to the examples of tlu ■The original name of this construction is recalled for its significance and tendei historical associations. “ Casa ’’—house, “Monica”— the name of the mother o: St. Augustine. Vide “ The Confessions of .St. Augustine,” in allusion to her death 2 Washington and other cities are being paved largely* with a coarse concrete, in place of granite and North River slate. The superiority of concrete above natura stone flagging is thoroughly proven by contrasts of the two on Farragut Square and the next block southward, where the latter is scaled into large pockets holding water. The approaches to the new Armory at Saratoga Springs, the terrace rail and tenni nal posts, the curbing, and 12-inch waterway will be constructed of the best Port land cement and gravel ; i. e., concrete. The same material is used in the construe tion of over 200 miles of sidewalks in Minneapolis, and stands the temperature o) 40 degrees below zero without cracking or springing. But, as above stated, the con Crete for walls above ground would be of much finer and stronger components. F. W. Smith, Architect. No. 35. — Zorayda. The first concrete arch in St Augustine. 56 ROMAN CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION. ancients, but of modern Europe, where dwellings, bridges, and aqueducts are entirely built thereof. A Mausoleum Company, of Brooklyn, prepared plans for a structure of marble and concrete 350 feet square, three stories below ground, and two or three stories above ground, with a tower 160 feet in height and on the main floor a memorial hall. Concrete was the most important of all the materials used by the Romans. * * * Barge spaces were covered with vaults and domes, cast in a semifluid concrete. * * * The enormous vaults of the great thermae and the like cover F. W. Smith, Architect. No. 36. — Vestibule, Zoravda. their spaces with one solid mass like a metal lid, giving the form but not the principle of the arch, and thus allowing the vault to he set on walls, which would have been at once thrust apart had they been subjected to the immense leverage which a true arched vault constantly exerts on its imposts. * * * Massive walls were cast in a mould ; a sort of box of planks held by upright tim- bers into which the semifluid mass was poured. When this was set, the timbers were removed and refixed on the top of the concrete wall ; then fresh concrete was poured in, and this process was repeated till the wall was raised to the required height. In some cases the whole wall to the top was cast in this way and the brick facing was omitted; i. e., the building was wholly of concrete. * * * About 3 feet high appears to have been the average amount of wall raised in a day. concrete construction. 57 A reference to fig. 41 of the Casa-Monica in construction will show how precisely Roman concrete methods, as above described, were illus- trated upon a large scale in 1887. The enormous dome of the Pantheon, 142 feet 6 inches in space, is cast in con- crete; being one solid mass, it covers the building like a shell, free from any lateral thrust at the haunches. The walls of the Pantheon are of concrete, with a facing of bricks. Steps in the Forum had concrete coves, which remain. Pedestal coves of concrete also remain. The circular podium around the temple of Vesta, about 10 feet high, of concrete, still exists. The great platform in Nero’s palace and the pyramid of Cestius are other of the many remains of concrete in ancient Rome. — Encyclopaedia Britannica, last edition. F. W. Smith, Architect. No. 37. — Zorayda. interior. A monolith of concrete. Walls and galleries of concrete. Arches faced with traceries of the Alhambra. In the recent extension of the Via Nazionale in Rome, the concrete foundations of the house of Sallust were encountered, and it was neces- sary to blast them with dynamite. The opinion of Mr. James Renwiek upon the expediency of the use of concrete for the National Galleries is stated, as follows: Rknwick, Aspinwaet, & Russell, Architects, 7/ Broadway , New York, January 2r, 1891. Franklin W. Smith, Esq. My Dear Sir: In answer to yours of the iotli, in which you desire me to give an opinion as to the value of concrete, or beton, as it is called by the French, as a building material, and a history of its use, I would state that concrete was used by CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION. 58 the Romans, and also in small quantities by the architects of the Middle Ages. In modern times, owing to the discovery of cements and hydraulic limes and the per- fection of these manufactures, it has been used much more than previously, and this is due to its great value in moist as well as dry foundations, and also to the fact that it will set under water, and for building purposes because it is more durable than sandstones, and as durable as marble or granite. Concrete is Composed either of a mixture of hydraulic lime, cement, and sand, or of cement and sand and broken stones, or broken bricks or gravel. Its use for foundations is now almost universal. l : or superstructures it has also been largely used. The be/on Coignet has been extensively used in Prance in the great aqueduct which supplies Paris, in which it is carried across the depression in the woods at Fontainebleau by arches of beton, one of which, of 80 or more feet in span, crosses the public highway. A church has also been built of it from founda- No. 38. — Concrete residence of Mr. W. E. Ward, Port Chester, N. Y. 1873-77 tion to the top of the spire, and houses, pavements of streets, and the cavalry bar- racks at Paris are also made of this material. In Germany many houses are built of it entirely, with the steps of the same material. The great breakwaters in the Mediterranean at Alexandria and Port Said are of concrete, which is made in the form of a cube of about 6 feet 6 inches, and thrown into the sea. In this country biton Coignet was used by me for all the interior walls of the Cathedral of New York except the columns and traceries, which are of marble, and was exposed for years to the action of the weather without damage. Many houses also are faced with this material, colored to resemble brownstone. The arch in Prospect Park, in Brooklyn, is also of this material, and the underpinning of many of the bridges on the Erie Railroad, the masonry of which has been damaged by floods, in which it was very successful. The material of which it is proposed to build the National galleries is better than this, as it is made of Portland cement and not of hydraulic lime and sand. It will CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION. 59 stand a very great pressure and is stronger than many building stones; it can be made in any color, except white. It has been used with great success in St. Augustine, where there is not other material easily procurably which is durable, and it ought to be used much more largely, as it is, in addition to its durability, the cheapest known material. If mixed by machinery, the walls of a building can be built for 22 cents a cubic foot; more than 10 cents less than common brickwork. For columns, cornices, doors, windows, and all moldings and ornaments, its relative expense is at least from one-third to one-half that of cut stone, as after the molds are made the whole work can lie done by unskilled labor. For a great public building, such as the National Gallery, it is, therefore, the most economical material that can be used. With regard to the height and dimensions of the galleries, I would advise a base- . ment from 10 to 15 feet high, depending upon the position chosen for the building, with the galleries above it, which should be from 30 to 40 feet in width. As the plan is drawn with colonnades for statuary, etc., on each side of the galleries, this No, 39. — Interior of Mr. Ward’s house. Floor, walls, and celling oi concrete. wsi ; > will keep all objects of interest on the same level. The basements can be used for workshops and apartments for the officers and employees of the institution, and in some cases may be omitted if the ground on which the building is placed requires it. I have no doubt, in my own mind, that this plan is the most convenient and best adapted to the purposes for which the building is to be used. * * * Yours, truly, James Renwick.' The massive and extensive concrete residence of Mr. W. E. Ward, of the iron manufacturing firm, Russell, Burdsdall & Ward, Port Chester, N. Y., of which illustrations 47 and 48, is a scientific and practical proof of the adaptation of the material to general construction. 1 A further extract from the letter of Mr. Renwick is placed with the consideration of cost. 6o CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION. Before the commencement of the work, Mr. Ward made tests and experiments with the material at large expenditure of thought, time, and money. These investigations were made in 1871-72, and published in Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers at the regular meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, 1883. The following is an extract from the report: When all doubts were removed concerning the reliability of the several combina- tions of materials required in the construction, a building embracing the following radical new features was erected (during four years, 1873-77), for dwelling pur- poses, near Port Chester, N. Y. Not only the external and internal walls, cornices, and towers of the building were constructed of bdton, but all of the beams, floors, and roofs were exclusively made of beton, reenforced with light iron beams and rods. Furthermore, all the closets, stairs, balconies, and porticoes, with their supporting columns, were molded from the same material, the only wood in the whole struc- ture being window sashes and doors, with their frames, moss boards, and the stair rails, thus excluding everything of a combustible nature from the main construction. Beton can be used in any form of construction, and is able to serve the require- ments of any architectural or decorative effects, etc. On the 261th of January last, I wrote Mr. Ward asking whether he had discovered any cause for qualifying his judgment as to the value of beton for a reliable building material. He replied February 3, as follows: No, sir. 1 have not found through experience and close observation any reason for qualifying my opinions of the superior excellence of beton as a first-class building material, and only wonder that after the complete success of my big experiment the building public are so slow in adopting it more generally. In a subsequent letter (March 7, 1891) Mr. Ward wrote: I am unable to emphasize its merits as strongly as it deserves. For such a structure as you propose to build, and as you aim to realize equal duration in all parts, I would certainly construct the roof out of the sqme material. Mr. Ward made his roof of large slabs of concrete resting on the sup- porting walls with paper (slip) joints, to admit of expansion and contraction. The history of the extensive concrete constructions in St. Augustine is interesting, and the facts involved therein are conclusive as to the expediency of its use for the National Galleries. In the winter of 1882, while in Spain, I decided to build a winter home in St. Augustine after the model which the experience of centuries had proved desirable in semitropical countries. An oriental house of wood would be an anachronism; yet there was no stone in Florida. To freight it from the North would be an extrava- gance. At Vevay, on Lake Geneva, subsequently, thedilemma of material was relieved. In the neighborhood a chateau was in construction. Con- crete partition walls 4 inches thick were being cast of the rubbish, bricks, F. W. Smith, Architect. No. 40. — The “ Casa-Monica,” St. Augustine. Concrete of sea sand with Portland cement. 62 CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION. etc., left from the main walls, in a wooden boxing. 1 Near by Grecian balusters were being cast of fine sand and cement in iron molds, very rapidly, with unskilled and cheap labor. The problem was solved. I saw henceforth an age of stone for St. Augustine instead of pitch-pine wood. In the following Decemlier, with a Boston mason, experiments were made, and the first concrete blocks of coquina sand and Portland cement were cast in St. Augustine for the Villa Zorayda. They are preserved as valuable relics. Then the first course around the lines of the dwell- ing herein depicted was laid in planks io inches high and filled with the mixture. In two days a range of handsome smooth stone was revealed. It was followed by another immediately, and these layers hardened R. W. Smith, Architect. No. 41. — The “ Casa-Moiiica ” in construction. sufficiently to allow the raising of the walls a course every other day. The partition walls were cast in with the main walls in even courses, also the arches of the court, so that the building is practically a mono- lith. Arches like the first cast, as seen in the illustration (PI. 45), were reenforced and anchored to the walls by round iron rods. „ The outer walls were cored with an air chamber, by a board buried in the boxing and then raised, like a boat’s centerboard, before the concrete hardened. In thirty days the walls were as hard as any building stone, and in a year as defiant of a drill as granite. '“Even party walls of small rooms [of Roman houses] are not built solid, but have a concrete core faced with brick triangles about 3 inches long. ” Encyclopaedia Britannica. INTERIOR CONCRETE DETAILS. 6} The result is a building that can hardly be excelled for durability, solidity, and richness in effect, dryness, and fireproof qualities. Fire- places cast in concrete have withstood, to the date of this writing, occasional fires, during eight winters, of live-oak wood, without as much impression as would have been made upon fire brick. , The famous and extensive constructions of concrete in St. Augustine followed, and now it is in universal use, not only for first-class and rich buildings, but for fence posts, sidewalks, chimney flues, etc., and the piers beneath the poor man’s cottage, formerly built of bricks from the North at double the cost. F. W. Smith, Architect. No. 42. — A chimney ami mantelpiece of concrete in the drawing-room of the Hotel Casa Monica, St. Augustine. The Casa-Monica, of which illustrations are annexed, stands as a superb illustration of concrete. A facade of above 400 feet, a tower of 100 feet in height, balconies, arches, cornices, battlements, etc., are a homogeneous mass of solid and elegant stone. It was a new departure in this building to use the sea sand simply dredged from the flats of the harbor, having not more than one-tentli of the coquina. It was found that the finer the material the more dense and uniform in color the result. This building challenges comparison with any in the United States for the desiderata of a first-class stone construction, and especially with its ornamentation and impressive grandeur illustrating the Spanish castellated and the Hispano- Moresque forms — for its cost. 64 CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION. F. W. Smith, Architect. No. 43. — Moorish arches in the Court of Villa Zorayda, showing the Alhambresque tracery. The Museum of the Stanford University, California, next to the Memorial Chapel, will he the most important edifice on the grounds. It will be 300 feet in length, three stories in height, and the entire structure from foundation up walls, floors, and roof — is to be of concrete and twisted iron, the whole edifice to be molded into a single monolithic structure, without seam, break, or joint. The bars of iron embedded in the concrete are immovably held at every point by the enveloping material, and thus impart their own tensile strength to the concrete, which obviates the necessity for great thickness or heavy weight, especially since it is found that bars of iron subjected to cold twisting gain largely in tensile strength. The annexed illustration proves the availability of fine concrete for ornamental details. It shows a chimney and mantel in the Casa Monica with supporting brackets, all of fine, washed sand and cement. The Caryatides are of Florence carved walnut. The tiles (Spanish from Valencia) are set in the concrete. This material can claim no patent right. It is as old as Roman con- struction, and long familiar in our country in coarse work. But its use for fine details with a purpose of utmost endurance has slight precedent pre- vious to its introduction in St. Augustine. J SPECIMENS OF CONCRETE COLUMNS. 65 Thus a precursor of what is proposed for the National Galleries precisely illustrates the present theory in advance , by the liberality and independent enterprise of Senator Stanford. Stones placed in contact with merely joints of mortar have no bond, such as exists in concrete held throughout an entire range by embedded iron. The former will not resist settlement of sections or the shocks of earthquakes; the latter, better than any known material or expedient, will resist both. Doubtless this was one reason for the adoption of con- crete, reenforced by iron, for the Stanford Museum. It may be observed that the fagade of the Villa Zorayda (fig. 34) is nearly in three detached sections. If really separate, the least jar of earthquake or the slightest settlement would be made apparent. For security against either, the sections are bound by embedded railroad bars through the entire width of the building. Considering that earthquakes have shattered a city as near to Washington as Charleston, this contin- gency, not anticipated at the commencement of the Capitol, is worth consideration. The writer hopes to set up in Washington within a few months specimen columns, cast in concrete, 1 , that will be their own evi- dence of the qualities asserted, viz, that such construction is monolithic, homogeneous; that it increases its tensile and crushing strength continu- ously with time, and that it can take readily, cheaply, and permanently any precise tint demanded for beauty, except white. It will be said that such material is an imitation of stone. It is, in fact, a stone, although of artificial creation. Unquestionably, as Ferguson has stated, value enters into our concep- tion of greatness and richness. The semblance of the Kohinoor, be it absolutely indistinguishable in its precision, can not satiate our curiosity to look upon the great original diamond. But in wise use of our capital we shall not rival monarchical ambition. Fortunately the essential elements desired — sublimity and duration as its complement — are both supplied by the modern perfection of cement in its chemical affinity, producing rock. In all great imitative creations we satisfy ourselves with slight sem- blances compulsively. A painting is but a thin and perishable phantom of the everlasting hill or of the ocean that rollest now “ such as creation’s dawn beheld.” The dome of the Invalides is only a film of gold in thickness; but Dr. Holmes overheard Sirius mistaking the gilded dome of the capitol of Massachusetts, in Boston, as a stranded satellite that had lost its way. The Athenians were content with a plating of real substance for the colossal ivory and gold statue of Athena in the front chamber of the Parthenon; yet that and the Olympian Jupiter have ranked as the grandest human conceptions realized in art. The Warrior Goddess was made of plates of ivory upon a core of wood 1 Examples supplied 1898-99 in the Halls of the Ancients, S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 2 5 66 CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION. or stone for the flesh parts, oil which was laid the drapery, etc., of gold. Previous to Phidias, colossal statues, when not of bronze, had head, hands, and feet of marble, while the body was of wood. Yet to the great masters of Greece “doth mankind owe its knowledge of the beautiful.” Terra cotta is a molded material, but is now an established artistic resource, and has gained general acceptance since its first prominent use of late years in the exterior bas-reliefs of the Poston Art Museum. To the aesthetic sense a molded bas-relief is a greater contrariety in sculpture than a molded brick or molded plinth in architecture. The magnificence of Rome, enduring through the ages, even in its ruins, was original in brick and concrete to a great extent. Augustus, it is written, found Rome of stone and left it in marble. Its stone was principally artificial ; its marble was a plating upon walls of brick or concrete. “Even marble buildings were usually coated with a thin layer of fine, white stucco, nearly as hard and durable as the marble itself — a practice also employed in the finest buildings of the Greeks — probably l>ecause it formed a more absorbent ground for decoration. “Stone columns coated in this way were called columnce dealbatse.” The exterior of the Taj, at Agra, and the interior of the Alhambra, at Granada, are generally admitted to be the most fascinatingly beautiful in the world. The latter has exhausted superlatives of admiration from Irving to Amicis. Its exquisite traceries have stood in full relief for more than five centuries (the Court of the Lions in the open air), yet it is of stucco. Exact counterparts of the ‘ 1 glories ’ ’ of art can lje had only for the world in substitutes of plaster. Assuming that the above evi- dence demonstrates that concrete supplies, better than stone, the essen- tials for constructions required, the economical result is extraordinary. Brickwork in Washington has advanced in cost to $9.72, say $10, per cubic yard, owing to the exhaustion of good clay in the vicinity. Mr. Renwick’s estimate of the cost of concrete (22 cents per cubic foot) is $5.94, say $ 6 , per cubic yard. A comparison of the cost of cut stone or marble, especially in large blocks, will show an enormous saving. The marble columns of the Cap- itol, including base and capital, are 30 feet 4^ inches in height. The shafts are 24 feet 10 inches by 3 feet in diameter, in one block. -Mr. Edward Clark, Architect of the Capitol, writes: “According to my recollection, the cost of each column, including cap and base, was, approximately, $3,000.” The Roman Doric order would be, consistently, cast in concrete by sections. After the expense of the mold, $100 each would be a liberal estimate for the cost of columns of the dimensions above stated. Granite columns, one-half the size of those required for the Columbian Parthenon, would cost at Westerly, R. I., $996.50, say, $1,000. These ANCIENT IMITATION OF MATERIALS, 67 would be about 3 feet in diameter and should not cost, as above stated, over $100 in concrete. An approximate estimate, without calculation of details, from experi- ence and the above data, for the group of buildings of the Historical Galleries would be — Inconcrete $10,000,000. In marble or granite 4°. e 00 . 00 °- No. 44.— Greek Mausoleum of Halicaruassus. Restoration 111 model. !| patriotism and patronage of art. No. 46. — Cloister Naranco. Spanish court, for lestoiation. 1 NATIONAL COURTS. Diffused knowledge immortalizes itself. Sir James Mackintosh. Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. — Samuel Johnson. History hath triumphed over time, which, besides it, nothing but eternity hath triumphed over.— Sir Walter Raleigh. We have, in imagination, provided commemorative Temples of His- tory and Galleries for illustration of the highest attainments of art. No institution upon a system as comprehensive at the outset has hitherto been attempted. It is claimed to be a new departure in accord with the progressive and utilitarian spirit of the age. Such advance is demanded in these days in all intellectual as well as material interests. Old university systems have yielded to the eclectic demands of a prac- tical era.' Technological institutions supplant, for special vocations, the old classic routine, that the student may go directly to the goal. We 'Thoroughly in sympathy with these ideas is the present university extension movement; a new, broad, and promising educational instrumentality by which the latest results in the fields of art, science, and philosophy are to be carried to the general public. Lately, lectures have been given by professors of Princeton, Columbia, Yale, and Harvard, on various subjects, in New York and Brooklyn, Professor Marquand, of Princeton, lecturing on archaeology. These valuable services are stimulating a demand for the grand Institute of Illustration herein proposed. In the same direction of zeal for diffusion of knowledge is the plan of the new 69 THU CONTENTS OF Till 70 CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. seek to arrange collateral information along his path. The advantage for America is, that in her youth and wealth she is not encumbered by custom and routine. The Kensington Museum, as we have shown, is proof of the possibility of modern improvements in aid of archaeology and art. The proposed National Galleries of History and Art, 1 it is believed, would excel both in materials and methods any existing institution. They would draw from analogous organizations of the Old World all details applicable to their purposes, and add others of special value to Americans, as a new nation in a new world, isolated from all original remains. No. 47. — Staircase, Toledo. Spanish court, for restoration. The system of illustration advised is claimed also to be comparatively, with its attractions, its promised influences, and results, more economical than previous historical and artistic collections. For apprehension of the scheme, the reader is invited to enter the struc- tures, in imagination completed, and forecast their occupation and use. The Parthenon on an Acropolis, as at Athens, and like the Temple of Jove on the Capitoline Hill, dominates a height before the American Capitol, its counterpart in prominent magnificence. This grand temple we devote to commemoration of Presidents of the United States. Adjacent are temples memorial of other statesmen and University of Chicago, for work throughout the year, by lectures in and aliout the city. The extraordinary Chautauqua educational organizations and assemblies have pre- ceded these movements in facilitating popular education, not only of youth but the people. ‘The idea of congregating the two objects of history and art is a good one, for many of our people who are crude in art matters are earnest and appreciative on matters of history. — -“G aTH,” in the Philadelphia Inquirer. ART ILLUSTRATIONS OF HISTORY. 71 patriots. Terraced below are the Galleries of History, an institute of illustration by paintings i:i chronological series, accurately revealing historical events, and by collateral objects and devices, such as casts of sculpture, architectural models and fragments, inscriptions, etc. There is no such distinct and realistic presentation of a great historical cycle in all the galleries of Europe. If the compartments of ceilings in the Vatican or the Louvre be cited to the contrary, it will be remembered that the details are in such distant positions and in such subjection to adjacent ornamentation that the observer abandons the effort even to identify the subject from his guidebook. There are none but frag- mentary efforts at continuity except at Versailles. Generally, facts are overlaid with allegory for ornament, in indifference to their importance, from which it is difficult to extricate them. No. 48. — Triumph of Romulus, B. C. 740. For copy, 10 feet by 7 feet with series from Piuelli. Thus an institute would have a clear field for the consecration of art, in a revival of the past more vivid, intelligible, and impressive to the people than has yet been developed. Let the stories of history be tan- gibly set forth in truthfulness, not in poetic ideality ; in actual conti- nuity, not in fragmentary fancies ; in satisfaction of curiosity (the only true stimulus to intelligence), not in isolation that is discouraging to the ignorant, revealing to him no end from a beginning. For this consummation the subject must be grasped as a whole. Given an area for representation, and a subject, the historian must mark the salient, critical, objective, and final data; must recreate the charac- ters and their surroundings by all written and antiquarian material ; then the artist must give them life and power in semblance of form and color. 72 CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. Since the above was written I have received from London Pinelli’s “ Istoria Romana,” giving 102 engravings of Roman history, in illustra- tion of Rollin , 1 from the time of Romulus and Remus to the Emperors. These could be enlarged by the camera, and would need only the colorist to complete an attractive and vivid series for popular study. Six of the series are here given in illustration of the whole. Imagine this suggestion realized in a grand hall walled with truthful and lifelike portrayals of the great eras and decisive incidents of Roman history , 2 the connection of the facts revealed being fully explained by accompanying text ; these representations being again multiplied by photo-reductions for inexpensive handbooks of history, such as are now No. 49. — Lucius Junius Brutus condemns his sons to death for conspiracy to restore Tarquin to the throne, B. C. 500. l J or copy, 10 feet by 7 feet. published by the Kensington Museum upon its treasures of art. Imagine the Greek, Byzantine, Renaissance, and other galleries also thus illu- mined by recreations of the critical and crucial experiences of their nation- 1 The edition of Rollin illustrated by these powerful drawings is in the Library of Congress. Histoire Romaine, Depuis la Fondation de Rome, Jasqu'a la Ilataille d’Actium. Paris, 1748. 16 vols. “Extensive ranges of paintings may recall to many the exhaustive prostration of the round through Versailles, where fatigue dissipates all pleasure before half the course is made, and from which there is no retreat. When Americans have their own galleries, far excelling in interest and instruction those of Europe, as they may, they will not be limited to a day’s visit in a contin- uous drive; and they will utilize elevators, automatic tramways, and perambulators; and study as they travel in luxury and ease. ART IN EDUCATION At, USE. 73 alities, that marked their transitions to conquest and defeat, greatness and decay. Thus more effective object lessons than have ever before been devised would be scattered broadcast from the Capital of the nation to the homes of its people. The Gallery would issue textbooks to the adults of the nation. This practical, unpoetic employment of art, rather than for the play of imagination, may invite criticism from connoisseurs whose ideal demands perfection, and who are hypercritical of all but recognized masters. Such aestheticism is incompatible with the aim of the proposed insti- tute. It is apparent that the world can never paint its history at the cost No. 50. — M. Coriolanus, condemned to exile, pleads against the sentence by wounds in war for his country, II. C. 470. For copy in series. of “The Angelus,” nor would it be desirable in the microscopic detail of Meissonier’s Napoleon in 1814 — 30 inches by 20 inches — sold for$i7o,ooo, or $283 per square inch. It is vain to expect that our Government will in this generation pur- chase such treasures; that the agent of the American National Galleries will appear in competition with Kmperors of Russia and France for a Murillo Madonna, sold for 315,000 francs. The great majority of the people can not appreciate such values. Fortunately, the small minority who can indulge a limitless enthusiasm are increasing the private owner- ship of masterpieces from their surplus of wealth. Thence they will gravitate to public possession by gifts such as those from the late Mr. Corcoran, Messrs. Marquand and Walters, and bequests 74 CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. like that of Miss Catherine Wolfe. Thus the Corcoran Gallery 1 and other metropolitan collections will hold the costly gems of art. They will be to the great practical institution herein advised what the gems of the Green Vaults of Dresden 2 are to casts in the Trocadero or the Kensing- ton, or to the instructive potteries of Egypt and Etruria, which are far more important as models of design or for interpretation of history. The genius of art as adapted to this age can not be more clearly set forth than in the comments of M. Phillipe Gille on the exhibit of the late French Exposition . 3 No. 51.— Roman women give their jewels for defense of Rome against the Gauls, B. C. 350. lie writes thus: The nineteenth century is insatiable in the matter of knowledge, comparison, and generalization in all things. The taste for art is, in these days, merely one special branch of universal curiosity. In the eyes of the thoughtful public a figure or a picture, a statue or a group, has gradually lost its subjective interest, which has become secondary to its value as an ethnological or historical record. Landscape, for instance, English, French, German, African, or Asiatic, takes the place of descriptive geography. Genre, finding its subjects in the most dissimilar countries, represents with the cliarin of relief and color the manners and customs of the human race. 'The Corcoran Gallery, in Washington, is a most attractive popular selection of works of meritorious art, in the variety and interest of its subjects, as well as for beauties brought from nature and life to fascinate the eye. "The Green Vaults of Dresden contain an immense collection of precious stones, pearls, works of art in gold, silver, amber, ivory, and rock crystal. It has the larg- est known onyx, valued at $30,000. 3 See Addenda 2. , ■ REALISM IN ART ILLUSTRATION. 75 This realism, in accord with the practical spirit of the age, must be the standard for historical art work of a popular — that is, a people’s — institution. Accuracy and beauty in execution are not less to be demanded than in the creations of idealists. The frescos lavished in German galleries should be exemplars for the manipulation in distemper, and for oil work the panoramic force and literalness of Horace Vernet. The sensible conclusions of Monsieur Gille may be extended to all the technical subdivisions of knowledge.' The artist has no need to resort to the creations of his fancy for his highest inspirations. Realism in No. 52. — The death of Regulus by torture upon his return as prisoner from his embassy to Rome, where he urged war with Carthage, B. C. 256. Copy. subject, through fidelity to nature in accessories, is not less the charm of Claude, Corot, or Millet than their success with atmosphere and color. I11 fact, it is the pathos in realism — the worship of the peasant — the unison of the soul with the imaginary bell strokes of the Angelus, that has won for the latter preeminent admiration. The learned professors of the institute who shall prescribe the inci- dents of history to be delineated seriatim must inevitably utilize every department of art. The human figure in perfection of form and action takes early position in subjects of the Greek and Roman periods. 1 For further discussion of the literal utilization of art for educational use, see Addenda. CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. 7 6 Nor will the Muse of History dwell only on the spiritual or the stern and powerful elements that have wrought or warred through the mythol- ogy or conquests of the ancients. Coming downward from the iron- No. 53. — Hamilcar, the Carthagenian General, demands of his son, Hannibal, an oath of perpetual enmity to Rome, B. C. 238. Copy. No. 54. — Egyptian Temple at Philae. For restoration in court. disciplined Spartans, we shall meet the religious inspiration of saints; the romance and chivalry of minnesingers and troubadours. The theory for the institute would not be a rigid and dry exhibit of ART ILLUMINATION TOR ORJRCT LKSSONS. 77 facts by schoolmen, but to command all resources of art, to clothe them with beauty and enchant attention in study. It is an age of illumination and object teaching, that may be applied with unequaled facility in a national agency for dissemination of knowledge. These frescoes and canvases should be the works of American artists under guidance of the highest existing talent. Europe should supply its ability for preceptors, as Switzerland gave Agassiz to Harvard University. No. 55. — Corinthian details. Models. In our-imaginary assignment of the Parthenonic temple to its com- memorative use, we behold it receiving statues and portraits of Presidents of the United States. Adjacent are panels illustrative of their rise to eminence and other memorials that would forever freshen to succeeding generations. 1 his would be the Hall of Presidents.' 1 In the year of the Victorian Jubilee, after witnessing the pageant in l/ondon, the author was, with fellow-passengers from the coach, walking up hills in the Lake 78 CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. The surrounding ranges of temples we appropriate, in like manner, to the history and archaeology of the American Republic; to the portraiture of its founders, patriots, defenders, and all who should be emblazoned on its tablets of fame. Upon the terraces that cover the hillsides are ranged picture galleries, with corridors on either side, proportioned in extent t,o the importance of historic periods and races. The galleries will receive chronological series of paintings, like that of Roman history described, and the cor- ridors all collateral illustration possible from the plastic art. These inclose courts for reproduction of monuments and structures to complete the delineation of human life and development by all available material. Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Assyrian, Mediaeval, Moorish, and East Indian courts should contain monuments or relics of the highest attainment of their civilizations. No. 56. — Cloisters of San Paolo, Rome. Mediaeval court, for restoration. This picture may appear too grand for realization. Its entire practi- cability will be demonstrated by the list of architectural reproductions proposed, to be the most effective and progressive feature for our National Galleries. region. In the company were two persons of Hast Indian complexion - an Indian prince and liis servant. The former had been one of the gorgeous oriental escort of the Queen. In conversation that followed he said: “ I am greatly dieappointed that my associate will not return with me across the United States to India. I want, above all, to visit the people who have chosen good rulers by popular vote for one hundred years,” ENGRAVINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ETC. 79 We have assigned our central ranges of galleries to historical and commemorative paintings. These should be supplemented by collections to utmost extent of all illustration by engraving, photography, etc.;' that would perfect the scheme of pictorial, historic, and art illustration, if thoroughly indexed This suggestion I would strongly emphasize as the conviction of con- siderable observation and experience. The material abounds in all European collections; yet in practical uselessness, because nowhere cata- logued by subjects. The National Library of Paris holds 1,320,000 engravings, arranged under the names of the designers. In like manner the Louvre Museum has 36,000 specimens of engravings, and the Vatican as many, that can only be approached with difficulty. No. 57. — Caza Zaporta. Spanish court, for restoration. The British Museum has commenced publication of catalogues of its engravings by three royal octavo volumes on caricature. The details are fully described of each picture; for instance, by Hogarth, of the per- sons, motives, etc., of the scene; but there is no index to subjects, as political, domestic, etc., or as of jurisprudence, religion, etc. Thus these 1 Mr. Spofford, Librarian of Congress, states that “by the silent operation of the copyright law for twenty years past, the Library of Congress has accumulated, with- out a dollar of expense to the Government, over 500,000 works of graphic art, embracing line engravings, mezzotints, lithographs, etc. It is proposed to have in the new Library Building an art gallery, 250 feet by 35 feet, for exhibition of the progress of art in thisdirection since 1870.” This is most interesting and desirable, but has no relation to the above plan of reproduction of foreign and antiquarian art. 8o CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. vast collections are of less practical utility than a tithe of their number made facile to examination. By photography these selections from the great European accumula- tions can be duplicated. If then indexed by their subject, author, and date, as are modern libraries all previous artistic conceptions of a period, or a race, or a biography would be immediately available to the scholar, the author, architect, and artist.' Such an index of the institute would more than parallel that of Dr. Poole to periodical literature; a life work of inestimable value in mod- No. 58. — Gothic portal, Beauvais. Restoration asal>ove for Gothic court or in model. ern study; a guide in a labyrinth; an evolution of order out of chaos. By such an accomplishment the institute would surpass in usefulness all other collections that might hold a greater aggregate of material. As collateral to the above pictorial lessons from history, there should be wall charts of the progress of civilization, and its geographical demar- cations at divers periods. For instance, we should define the contem- porary bounds of Latin, Greek, and Oriental civilization. The large painting in the Kensington Museum in comparison of the dimensions and architecture of the grandest buildings of the world is an excellent specimen of such illustration, 3 91011 17 18 29 33 39 I ti A. The Washington Monument (added to oji: Ft. 1. Porcelain Tower, Nankin.Cliina 200 2. St. George’s Hall, Liverpool 85 3. Tomb of Theodoric, Ravenna, abt. 50 4. Chichester Cathedral 271 5 Victoria Tower, Westminster 331 6. Boston Church, Lincolnshire . . 202 7. Taj Mahal, Agra .... 220 8. York Cathedral . . . 198 9. Temple of Bacchus, Taos abt. 60 10. Alexandrian Column, St. Peters- burg ir>4 11. Column of July. Paris .... 154 12 Torn; Asinelli, Bologna . 370 13. Bell Tower, St. Mark’s, Venice 323 14. Colosseum, Rom e( 584 ft in length) 157 15 Friburg Cathedral . . 385 16. Temple of the Sun, Baalbec 120 17. Temple on the Ilissus, Athens, abt. 25 Ft 18 Erochtheium, Athens ... 44 35 19. Chartres Cathedral . .403 20. Church of Ste .Genevieve, Paris 274 21 Tin- Monument, London . . 202 22 Amiens Cathedral . . 888 23. Church of St.Theobold,Thann,abt.320 24 Royal Albert Hall, 1 ondon . . 154 25 St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna . 441 26 Torazzoof Cremona 396 27. Hotel des Invalided, Paris 310 28. Temple of the Giants, Agrigentum 116 29 Parthenon, Athens ...... 66 30 Second Pyramid. Qhoeseh . . 447 31. Strasburg Cathedral ... 468 32. Rouen Cathedral about 460 33 Eleanor Cross, Waltham . . . 50 34. Cologne Catln'dral 510 35. Gnat Pyramid 460 36. St. Peter's, lb 37. St. Paul’s, 1 sir 38. Albert Men Ui , Q f Obelisk, 1 fa I Propbyloi I . 40. Bow Churcl.U 41. Cleopatra’s It* 42. Old St. Pau 11 43. Church of 8 Tl 44. Abbey of St t-, 45. Church of 8 hr L 46. The Baptist h 47. Tomb at M s* i 48. Church of S |>* ; 49. Obelisk in Pi £4 ■: r In Lateral 1 50. Antwerp Ca it No. ^8'A— CHART OF COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE AND HEIGHTS OF HE I 41 47 49 52 57 58 60 64 lal drawing), 555 Ft. e 448 3n 360 180 r 75 70 ndon 235 le 68 xmdon 508 ary, Lubeck . . 400 phen, Caen . . . 400 krtin, Landshut, about 460 isa . . 190 , Caria . . about 50 ter, Hamburg “ 380 di San Giovanni tome 153 ral 403 feet high. Completed 1884. Ft. 51. 4 *Bell Harry” Tower, Canterbury 235 52. Tower of the Winds, Athens abt. 45 53. The Cathedral, Florence . . 376 54. Hotel de Ville, Brussels . . . . 374 55. Mosque of St. Sophia, Constanti- nople . . 182 56. Pantheon, Rome . . 143 57. Chapel of St. Pietro Montorio, Rome . . . . about 40 58. Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, Athens 34 I 59. Salisbury Cathedral . 404 60. Trajan Column, Rome 134 j 61. Cathedral, Frankfort-on- Main 326 62. Pyramids of Mvcerinus 218 63. Church of St. Nicholas, Newcastle 201 I 64. Temple of Jupiter, Strator, Rome, about 98 67 70 73 77 Ft. 65. Mechlin Cathedral 319 66. Bell Tower, Florence 266 67. Tomb of Absalom, Jerusalem 54 68. Norwich Cathedral "09 69. Leaning Tower, Pisa 188 70. Pompey’s Pillar, Alexandria 100 71. Church of St.Isaac,St.Petersburg336 (Central Spire, Lichfield 252 (Western “ “ . . 192 73. Arch of Constantine, Rome abt. 70 74. Tower of Ivan Veliki, Moscow 260 75. Central Transept, Crystal Palace 198 76. Science Schools, S. Kensington 110 77. Temple of Vesta, Tivoli . about 55 i WORLD’S MONUMENTS. ORIGINAL IN THE KENSINGTON MUSEUM. R. i PLASTIC MATERIAL. 8l The history of the migration, increase, and improvement of earth’s population, the rise and decline of empires, might be graphically deline- ated, giving life to dry statistics and elucidating to the eye historical events. These themes present a field for prize competitions in ingenuity and scholarship. Collateral with painting, the plastic art is an indispensable appliance for illustrative objects and examples. Its facility, perfection, and cheap- ness are unsurpassed by any process of human skill that relates to the refinements of life. It will produce with absolute truthfulness the features of a colossal sphinx or the microscopic lineaments of a coin. No expenditure for the objects sought in these papers will yield more tangible and remunerative results than purchases of casts. The great museums of Europe allow no vacancies in their collections of all desirable specimens. Within a few years the School of Fine Arts of Paris has added a grand hall for models, some of enormous propor- S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 2 6 82 CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GAXLKRIES. tions. Its catalogue has 2,943 numbers for sale. The collection includes statues, busts, masks, anatomical fragments, bas-reliefs, animals, arms and armor, altars, cameos, candelabra, inscriptions, lamps, ornaments, plaques, saddlery, vases, ecclesiastical stalls, etc., in the Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Gothic, Reniassance, and Modern styles. Beside these are architectural models in full proportion as seen in fig. 28, page 26. The values appended show the cheapness with which art casts may be lavishly supplied. Prices are as follows: For 10 statues, 4 feet 2 inches and upward, 26 francs, average; 236 busts and heads, assorted sizes, 9 francs. Bas-reliefs are of great importance, not only as models for design, but for their his- No. 60. — Jaina Temple of Vinala Sale, 12th Century. Restoration. torical records and illustration. The collection numbers 578 specimens at a cost of 40 francs each on the average. To this is added 60 per cent for packing and shipping expenses. For all educational uses casts are absolutely as good as originals. A11 eminent professor of architecture in one of our chief universities remarked, in accordance with these recom- mendations, that he would restrict a national institution to casts of antiquarian remains, considering the fictitious value of originals in comparison. The Royal Museum of Berlin, in the impossibility of purchase of originals, decided to obtain casts of all the masterpieces of sculpture in the world. It has 2,271 specimens. CASTS FROM BRITISH MUSEUM AND THE LOUVRE. 83 In nine years the Museum of the Trocadero, in Paris, has gathered its splendid exhibit in casts of architectural styles. The Louvre and the British Museum, iti aid of art universally, offer extensive lists of objects for sale in replication. The English people, having supplied money without stint for the acquisition of ancient remains, now offer counterparts to the world at a tithe of their cost. The Parthenon sculptures cost, in 1816, $175,000. The Phigalian marbles cost, in 1815-16, $95,000. In sculpture of archaic interest the museum 1 is unrivaled. The wonderful gain to human knowledge re- vealed by its acquisitions is impressively stated in the in- troduction to its calalogue, thus: The colossal bulls and long ex- tent of sculptured slabs covered with inscriptions, which orna- mented the palace of Sennacherib, the records of Assyrian history in- scribed in cuneiform character on sun-dried bricks, unearthed by Mr. Layard, with ivories, bronze vases, and numerous other objects, brought together within the mu- seum walls, have been the means, in a great measure, of restoring the history and realizing the gran- deur and advanced civilization of an ancient empire, the memory of which had been almsot lost. Again it says: Here are stored rather than ex- hibited very interesting monu- ments of antiquity, Indian sculp- tures, Mexican antiquities, many Roman sepulchers, Greek and other inscriptions in large num- bers, and other precious remains. No. 61. — Balcony, Benares. Restoration. It is in view of such abun- dance of instructive and impressive records of the past that the design provides a large area for its reception and that this appeal is made for its early transfer to our shores. Over against the pictured events of history which we have imagined, brought out in train, should be all existing busts of the rulers, scholars, philosophers, poets, navigators, inventors, artists, and others who im- pressed themselves upon the passing eras. 8 4 CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. Adjacent should be replica of inscriptions, sculptures, tombs, altars, etc. , which throw light upon the dim traces of time. To facilitate modern art and architecture, all the masterpieces of ancient sculpture and all examples of ancient orders should be placed in sight of the American student at home. A hall would be grandly beau- tiful and inspiring if the orders were ranged in accuracy of detail from base to apex of pediment, with good extent of entablature. An avenue of such recreations of full proportions would indicate the transitions from race to race — the Egyptian to the Greek, the Greek to the Roman. No. 62. — P'llar, Tschultrie. Model. (vSee fig. 64.) Models to scale, of course, must suffice for the gener- ality of notable constructions, such as are now being gained, of exquisite workmanship, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, but for full inspiration some great monuments should be revived in the dignity of proportions. In comparison with Europe the poverty of such material in our country is deplorable. The recent addition to the Boston Art Museum of casts, to a total of 777, valued at $50,000, is a welcome gain, and it is cheering to learn of a subscription of $100,000 to raise the New York list from COINS, CERAMICS, ARMOR, FURNITURE, ETC. 85 168 specimens; but the nation should at once command for its Capital all of such available object lessons from the past, to be redistributed thence to local centers of learning throughout the land. There is no need to enumerate in detail other archaeological material No. 63. — Tope of Sanchi, Buddhist shrine, 6th century. Model. of museums essential to the National Galleries — coins, ceramics, armor, furniture, bronzes, metal work, etc. Our country will reap the advantages of late inventive skill in all mechanical processes for their reproduction. No. 64. — Hall, Palace of Allahabad. Indian court. Restoration. The electrotype process in its high development will supply not only the coinage of all periods and nations extant in the vast collection of the British Museum a service to knowledge greatly enjoyed by its vener- able numismatist, Mr. Ready — but by the same application of chemistry and galvanism Messrs. Elkington & Co., of London, will supply large 86 contents of national galleries No. 65. — Ceramics. Allegorical Titles of the Nations by Solon. Exposition, Paris, 1878. CERAMICS 87 The United States had NO PLACE IN THE SYMBOLIC ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE CERAMIC ARTS. The Report of the Exposition, 1878, MENTIONS BUT THREE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE U. S. This Exhibit was WHOLLY DISPROPORTION ED TO THE EXTENT OF POTTERY INTERESTS IN THE U. S. At Philadelphia, in 1876, THERE WERE Sixty Exhibitors. American Ceramic Manufactures are now expanding with GREAT RAPIDITY AND SKILL. No. 65a. — Ceramics. Allegorical Titles of the Nations by Solon. Kxposition, Paris, 1878. 88 CONTENTS OK NATIONAL GALLERIES. reproductions, such as The Regalia from the Tower of London; of gold and silver services from Windsor Castle; of old English plate from Knole. The Corcoran catalogue now has 139 specimens of electrotype repro- ductions by Christofle & Co., of Paris, and Elkington & Co., of London, including the Treasures of Hildesheim, the Pompeian Toilet, and Monu- ment to Frederick the Great. The South Kensington Museum and the Arundel Society of London No. 66. — Interior of an Egyptian palace. Restoration. have contracted with Elkington & Co. for reproductions, in fictile ivory, of all their carved ivory objects, in aggregate of immense value. These replica are for all uses as good as the originals. The catalogue contains hundreds of articles dating through the past eighteen centuries — caskets, panels, book covers, tablets, shrines, diptichs, etc. The recital made of abundant material that is at once available vindi- cates the scale herein advocated in immediate constructions for National Galleries. These will be revealed by a magnifying glass. In 1888 a similar plate was published of London* in the time of Henry VIII. The port, “St. Bernard,” an illustration for the Mediaeval Court, is above the title in the foreground. MEDI/EVAL ARCHITECTURE 89 o' n> 7Q P g* § * I S cc Oi a t ~ 3 g g £a sill *T 3 5: h* 73’ ■— * 0 p r*f- p+ 0 3 0 on H P P p* —* 0 S 5 z* p <-*■ p - *T *— • 0 0 3 n / p p P Sf p 3 p 3 X 7 Q rc> sr 7 ) P- 0 p -t s* ^5 z. Z. c < 3 o c k o o r. n> p H O GTQ P *n ft n * 2 o p C/3 o n ^ o 5 2. -? -r o r+ o' C/3 P < S5* n cc 3 cc _ NO g- “jj 3 a 3 ^ 3 P r-t* p a> crq 3 * 7T P a H g- <’ 73 3 op ft n I go CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. The following design could be admirably utilized as a pavilion. The third of the novel and important provisions for this scheme of the National Galleries is described in the introduction, as follows: Reproductions in full size in the courts of the respective galleries of his- toric nationalities of their remaining monuments ; and reproductions of temples , dwellings , tombs , etc. , typical of their religion, life, manners, and art. I believe this recommendation, if realized, will prove the most popu- lar and impressive feature of the institution. No. 68. — Bird’s-eye view of an Egyptian palace. Restoration. The reconstructions in the first Crystal Palace at Sydenham of small courts of various styles, Egyptian, Pompeian, Moorish, Mediaeval, and Italian, by William Owen Jones, architect, were unquestionably the most attractive and effective impressions from the past upon observers, of all the material exhibited. The houses of all nations, by Monsieur Garnier, in the late French Exposition, are reported in all accounts therefrom as of the same super- lative interest. The success of the Pompeia as an object lesson of Roman art, archi- tecture, mythology, life, and manners is a precedent for an extensive ARCHITECTURAL RESTORATIONS. 91 elaboration of the idea through the fields of archaeology. Hitherto museums and galleries have attempted only the elucidation of fragments exhumed from antiquity, exhibiting the bones, rarely even a skeleton, of ancient life. With the light of modern investigation thrown upon monuments of past ages; by the interpretation of their records, unlocked from mystery on the clay cylinders of Nimrod and the Rosetta Stone, the environment of former races has been revealed to the scholar and detailed in books. By these data fractured ruins may be readjusted; the voids supplied; the walls raised; the roof or dome, towers, spire or pinnacle restored; the altars placed; pictured worship or conflict, domestic pursuit or No. 69. — Atrium of a Greek House. Restoration. luxury, the joys of life, the ceremonies of death, may be recreated, and we move among the forerunners of civilization. It has been the general opinion of traveled visitors to the Pompeia that they received a more vivid conception of Roman life and its sur- roundings from this reconstruction than had ever been gained from the ruins of Pompeii or the multiplied objects therefrom in the show cases of the Naples Museum. Antiquaries and scholars also have said that their imaginations of the reality, vividly described in the romance of Bulwer and the critical text-book of Becker, had never given a compre- hension such as was obtained from a circuit through the halls, apart- ments, and gardens of the house of Pansa, in which Jove and Mel- pomene, Victory and Ariadne, Bacchantes and Genii, the household gods 92 CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. and family scrinia, the pool of the atrium and the foliage of the peri- stylium; the altar for the Lares, and the reclining couch of the triclin- ium are all in juxtaposition, amid their imposing surroundings of stately columns and gorgeous decorations. This last allusion recalls an incident apposite to this argument. Among the 378 visitors of the Presbyterian convention was an eminent presi- dent of a seminary and professor in theology. He greatly enjoyed the practical experiment with the writer of reclining at a feast, like a Roman, on the couch of the triclinium. The description of the posture from classical dictionaries was more clearly indicated by a painting of a Feast of Genii, from Herculaneum, reproduced on the walls by Pascal, No. 70. — Triclinium of a Greek House. Restoration of Paris, who went to Pompeii for study of the subject, and by a copy of Boulanger’s Feast of Lucpllus. Others of the company personated the servitors. The final impression was to this effect: “For twenty years I have taught what has been dimly apprehended by me — the luxury of the Roman feast in recum- bent positions of the guests. I have hardly conceived them as comforta- ble, but now I realize all the ease, luxury, and revelry' of a symposium.” ' ■The illustration from Viollet le Due of a Greek symposium (fig. 70) is awk- wardly defective in the absence of the round pillows on which the guests rested upon the elbow. Monsieur le Due was as rapid in execution as Dore, and in this instance he overlooked an essential appliance. I11 the Pompeia they are simulated from the picture above mentioned from Herculaneum. CASTS AND MODELS IN KENSINGTON MUSEUM. 93 LEST FROM KENSINGTON MUSEUM. Annexed is a partial list of the casts and models of the Kensington Museum. They are extremely interesting and valuable. They should all lie provided, and very many in addition, to stimulate the genius of our people. PARTIAL LIST OK CASTS AND MODELS IN THE ARCHITECTURAL COURT OK THE KENSINGTON MUSEUM. The Rood Loft from the Cathedral of Bois-le-Duc. Doorways of Rochester and Norwich Cathedrals. The Prentice Pillar — Rosslyn Chapel. Recumbent Figures of Henry VII and Queen Eleanor. Cloister at Toledo. The Tabernacle of St. Leonard at Leau. Baptismal Font, from Hal, Belgium (A. D. 1444). Borgnival Monument. Font at Liege. Spanish-Moorish Arch from Toledo. Arabesque Cupboard from Toledo. Monument of Frederick the Great, Ber- lin. The Puerta Della Gloria of the Cathedral of Santiago. Choir Stalls at Ulm. Minstrels’ Gallery Exeter Cathedral. Chimney-pieces from Tattershall Castle. Chimney-piece from France, by Ger- main Plion. The Schreyer Monument at Nuremberg. Lion of Brunswick. The Trajan Column at Rome (in two por- tions). Chimney-piece from the Palace de Jus- tice, Bruges. Doors of Augsbergand Hildesheim Cathe- drals. Corona, or Chandelier, from the Cathe- dral of Hildesheim. Fountain, with Perseus and Medusa, from Munich. Candlestick at Milan Cathedral. Shrine of St. Sebald, by Peter Vischer. Tomb of Count Hennenberg, by Peter Vischer. Font at Hildesheim. Wrouglit-iron Screens from Hampton Court. Florentine and Venetian Fountains. Chapel, Reredos, and Arched Recess, from Church of Santa Chiara (Flor- ence). Doorways from a Church at Genoa. Terra-Cotta Bust of Fifteenth Century. Doorway of a Palace at Genoa. The Gherardini Models. Stone Chimney-pieces. Altar-piece and Tabernacle from San Girolamo at Fiesole. The Ghiberti Gates. Panels from the Campo Santo. Following this list I give a selection of structures and objects recom- mended for full reproduction, like the Pompeia, in confidence that it can all be accomplished with equal facility and thoroughness, and com- paratively, with the advantageous results, at very moderate expense. For architectural grandeur, as an inspiring ideal, as preeminently commemmorative of the most powerful impulsive action of man since the Christian era, let the Parthenon, as a Columbian temple, rise on an acropolis in the perfection of its dignity, unity, and beauty . 1 Let it be surrounded by like constructions. The Greek Federation of States centered their reverence and admiration about their common temple. ■ The Pantheon at Athens brings before our eyes the age of Pericles more clearly in all its perfection than any written page. — I'ergusson. 94 CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. The American Union should raise a grander votive shrine to those who conceived its origin and guided its growth, and greater temples for the perpetuation of its history, as the Republic of the United States is vaster than the Aehaian League. One of the principal functions of Greek art was to adorn the earthly habitation of the immortal gods — the Greek temple, whose grandeur and harmonious beauty make it one of the great- est achievements of the human intellect, the glory of all succeeding ages.* It is, therefore, be- cause it is an expres- sion of the highest aspiration of the hu- man' soul toward ‘ ‘ the Unknown God,” that I can not enjoy a mini- ature of the Parthe- non. Models are in- valuable for realism of examples in architec- tural stud} - . But however exact the imitation of de- tails, I can not with pleasure look down- ward , beneath my stat- ure, upon a dwarfed Parthenon; rather heavenward along its massive but uplifting lines, for the attri- butes of power and beauty that it was created to express. We should range its colonnade against the western horizon of the National Capitol as a counterpart to the stately dome upou the east; the one expressive of the highest legislative wisdom, the other of the resultant intellectual devel- opment of a nation. •The introduction to the Catalogue of Casts from the Anticjue in the South Ken- sington Museum, by Mr. Walter C. Perry, from which I quote, offers great tempta- tion to extended extracts from its clear exposition of the inspiration, beauty, and perfection of Greek art. ROMAN REPRODUCTIONS. 95 REPRODUCTIONS PROPOSED. In the Roman Court, as seen in the illustration 1 (fig. 71): 1. The Cabin of the Aboriginal Latians, modeled from the examples / on cinerary urns found near Alba. 2. Specimens of the Cloacae Maxima and other Roman masonry. 3. A replication of a section in the catacombs, with burial niches and altar, with inscriptions. This suggestion in 1891 materialized on a small scale in 1899 in the new monastery in Washington. 4. The Porta Maggiore, full size. (See fig. 5.) No. 72.— The Catacombs, Rome. Restoration. 5. A specimen of the ruins of Pompeii, with a portion of lava road- bed, a fountain, etc. 6. The Roman Palace of Scaurus, after Mazois. 7. Trajan’s Column, full size. The cast in the Kensington Museum is in plaster, in halves. The Roman Court in our plan can receive it in full size and grandeur in the open air. It can be readily constructed of concrete, a core being cast for the shaft and the sections of relief work cemented thereto. 1 The two illustrations of the Roman and Arabic courts, it will be observed, are not in exact perspective. They are photographed from free-hand sketches by Pascal, hurriedly made for this publication. They are merely for illustration, like a blackboard figure in chalk of a geometrical diagram. 96 CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. 8. Restoration of the Temple of Jupiter in Pompeii, after Fischetti and Weichardt. 9 Two or more tombs from the Appian Way, with its pavements precisely imitated. No. 73. — A Homan Columbarium. Restoration. io. A Columbarium; the receptacle for the cinerary urns containing the ashes of the dead. Casts from many of the ornate originals in the British Museum, to fill the niches in the walls, will be beautiful art models, and interesting for their memorial inscriptions. ' No. 7.(.— Inscriptions from the Alhambra: “There is no Conqueror but God.” Restoration. Among these suggestive recreations there should be — ii. A Rostra; its columns adorned with beaks of galleys and Roman standards; their proud initials S. P. O. R.; their eagles and triumphal wreaths. ROMAN REPRODUCTIONS. 97 Bunsen considered that the Rostra of the forum was a “circular build- ing, raised on arches, with a platform on top bordered by a parapet, the access to it being by two flights of steps, one on each side.” I can imagine the inspiration to the professor, speaking to the thousand excursionists — educators from the East or the West, in sight of these realistic images — in memoriam of the rise, greatness, and ruin of Rome. The 6 acres inclosed by the galleries would contain these and others that might be desirable. l ■ • • » No. 75. — Puerto del Sol (Gate of the Sun). Toledo, Spain. Restoration. From the experience with the Pompeia, I estimate that the above could be reproduced entirely for §500,000. The Roman house will be the most costly object of the list. I would add to these iu a park “Istoria,” outside the walls of the Historical Galleries, two other important reproductions, viz: 1. A portion of the remains of the Praetorian Camp of the Romans, now on the heights of the Saalburg, in Germany, being restored by the Emperor of Germany under the scholarly superintendence of Professor S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 2 7 98 CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. Jacobi. The Praetorian Camp could lie laid out on half scale. It would be built of brick of Roman pattern, about io by io by i}{ inches. It would give insight of the strength of Roman fortifications on the line of the Taunus range, against northern barbarians; of the discipline of their armies, and the mathematical prevision of movement which then, as in modern times, made legions invincible. 2. A full reconstruction of the Roman Baths, at Badenweiler, in the Black Forest. The Baths at Badenweiler, discovered, in 1784, are the most complete that remain from the Roman domain, although smaller than the ruins of those of Diocletian, Caracalla, and Titus, at Rome. In a rich edition of Vitruvius, the authoritative Roman architect, whose No. 76. — Mosque of Cordova. Specimen in restoration. works are extant, there is a full plan of these baths. Their length is 345 feet; breadth, 106. Partitions, floors, steps, etc., are well preserved. Canina also ( Architecturra Romana, Y. 3) gives the ground plan. In concrete they could be reproduced cheaply and with facility. By photo- graphs of the walls and apartments with a scale, and by specimens of brick, stone, and mortar from the ruins to match the colors, all details could be accurately depicted. These constructions, with the symbols, objects, weapons, utensils, and ornaments which would appropriately find place therein, would impress- ively reveal the actualities of Roman worship, war, domestic life, art, and manufacture. Thus would history be verified and art resuscitated with the meaning reconstructions in courts. 99 and beauty of their origin. The utilization of the Roman Court, as descril)ed, is an example for others indicated upon the ground plan. The Greek Court should inclose an Agora, according to Vitruvius, with its double colonnades, its Curia (Senate House), Basilica, altars, and statues. Its Doric style would be in harmonious effect with the sur- mounting Parthenon and its Roman modification in the opposite court. Such surroundings would be an inspira- tion to archaeological and classic research, and stimulate zeal for American participation in present Greek explo- rations, which are yield- ing splendid results. 1 The wonderful Mau- soleum of Halicarnas- sus (No. 45) may yet reappear as a monument to an American Mau- solus — Croesus. The Caryatides of the Krech- theum; indeed, the triple temples that com- posed that structure, illustrating the free- dom and picturesque- ness with which the Greeks applied their exact and stately archi- tecture, should be added entire. The Moorish Court (fig. 78) should con- tain, as represented, a fraction of the Mosque of Cordova ; the Court of the Lions, from the Alhambra, with the Puerto del Sol (Gale of the Sun), at Toledo, for its entrance. It is proposed that the angle towers (fig. 29) at the boundaries of the courts, which by the scale will be about 75 feet square, shall contain casts or reconstructions of famous monuments or fragments of the richest constructions of the adjacent styles. Thus the wonderfully rich piers of Burgos Cathedral (fig. 80), the Gothic Portal of Beauvais (fig. 58), 'See first volume of “ Antike Denkmaler.” Berlin: 63 plates. IOO CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. and the Norman Gate, at Bristol (fig. 90), would make superb termi- nals for vistas of the galleries. The Mediaeval and Renaissance Courts will inherit an embarrassment of riches from the monuments, dwellings, and relics remaining unharmed by time or human despoilers. The abundance of superb material is a perplexity of choice. That the illustrations of these eras may be apart and continuous, they are placed throughout the next division of the subject. In the Castle from the Rhine (fig. 79), which we have placed upon the banks of the Potomac, there must be the Baronial Hall (see illustra- No. 78.— Medixval castle of Kheinsteiu, for the southern angle of line of Galleries on the Potomac. tions of the time of Francis I), which should contain the interiors por- trayed in figs. 83, 84, and 85. The Gate of St. Bernard, with its conical tourelles, should be entered across its moat under a portcullis. Fragmentary illustrations of ancient art are of the highest importance in suggestion of forms to students and in aid of architectural design, but they tell no story, suggest no idea, give substance to no imagination, or reality to any description of the history or purpose of the structures from which they are detached. It is entirely practicable to effect thorough representation of the environment of historic personages and incidents, so that the force of MEDIEVAL RECONSTRUCTIONS. IOI those characters and the consequences of those occurrences shall be vividly imprinted upon the observer. In such precise faithfulness and for such intellectual results, there should lie recreated from time to time actualities, exterior and interior of monuments, houses, rooms, etc., associated with events that were greatly' consequential to the human race. The field is the wide range of historic association; but those of preeminent importance, of which the original relics remain as patterns, are not very numerous. There might be reconstructed after the originals — i. Luther’s home in the castle on the heights of the Wartburg, his Patmos, where he was concealed for years as the Knight George. No. 79. — Piers in Burgos Cathedral. Such reproductions should fill the angle towers, 75 feet by 75 feet, making superb termination of the vistas through the galleries. Restoration. 2. The Hall of the Girondins, and the cell of Marie Antoinette in the round towers of the Conciergerie. 3. The cell of Savonarola. 4. The chamber of Mary, Queen of Scots, as left in Holyrood Castle. 5. The house of Peter the Great, at Saardam, in Holland, where he wrought at shipbuilding. 6. The house of Shakespeare. 7. The house of Mozart. 8. The house of Michael Angelo. 9. The house of Melancthon. 10. Rooms in London Tower. 11. The room of Philip II, in the Escurial. 12. The Mamertine Prison at Rome, etc. 102 CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. The buildings identified with the personages would receive the special illustrations of their history and deeds. Herein would be a splendid and exhaustless field for future individual liberality, wherein the wealthy and cultured could rear their monuments of personal interest and bequests of materalized knowledge to posterity. Let it be remembered that the outlay and construction herein described have been repeatedly equaled at late world’s expositions. The plan assigns celebrated buildings, St. Sophia, Byzantine, San Salute, Renaissance, etc., to their respective courts. The buildings that will be demanded for the lecture halls, competitive exhibitions, etc., may as well be in typical as imaginary forms. No. 80 Assyrian Interior. A throne room. Restoration. The list proposed is simply suggestive — illustrative of the wide scope of illustration — not the fixed details of objects. These would lie con- trolled by various considerations, the grade and contour of ground, etc. But the system described , of courts , for the great divisions of history , to contain their respective architectural styles or remains, is advocated strongly as far in advance for instruction and entertainment of all exhibits yet devised. For the Indian Court: The elaborateness of East India temples (figs. 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65) would forbid, probably, their reproduc- RECONSTRUCTIONS IN COURTS. 103 tion in full detail. Upon a reduced scale, sections of such structures could be repeated that would convey all information revealed by the entire structures. Oriental architecture had not the expression of the classic, nor the perfection of form, which is the consummation of beauty. Its marvelous handiwork is the result mainly of continuous labor, still miserably paid, so that with the present facilities of intercourse rich and expensive fragmentary specimens could be commanded. The Mediaeval Court should reproduce cloisters in variety. The Campo Santo, of Pisa, the win- dow of Melose Abbey, etc., could enhance the verdure inclosed with ex- quisite effect. In a review of the frag- mentary remains of the ancient world for these imaginary reconstruc- tions, I have found none that might be undertaken with greater zest and con- fidence of success than the Assyrian. The exterior (fig. 101) and the interior of an As- syrian throne Room ( fig. 100) would be imposing subjects. ‘ ‘ The Assyr- ian architecture,” says Fergusson, ‘‘was pala- tial, while that of the Greeks was templar. It was gay with color, and of such dazzling magnifi- cence that the inhabit- ants of Athens were led into hyperbole in records of its Splendor Re No. 81. — Exterior of an Assyrian palace. Restoration, mains have now been recovered to such an extent as enables us to restore their buildings almost as certainly as we can those of the temples of Greece and Rome or any of the great nations of antiquity.” The huge sculptures exhumed by Layard and Botta and brought at enormous cost to the British Museum are cheaply available by its liber- ality. Sixty slabs, reproductions, measuring 7 feet in length on an average, that would cover an area 300 feet long by 6 feet high, are 104 CONTENTS OE NATIONAL GALLERIES. offered in the catalogue of Brucciaua for ,£308, costing, probably, in Washington, $3,000. Tlieir interest would be vastly enhanced if sur- rounding the grand hall depicted, crested with the giraffa or an architec- tural symbol of flame (descended through the ages of fire-worship) and covered with its roof of cedar. In our imaginary reproductions thus far, examples of Egyptian archi- tecture, the earliest and most sublime works of man, are unapproached. Their vastness of scale would conflict with the moderate classic elevations of the Historical Galleries, and therefore no area can be assigned to them within the courts. Fortunately, on the reclaimed marshes, joining the desired site for the Galleries, there is an appropriate site and a superb opportunity for colossal specimens. Substituting the Potomac for the Nile, we would rear upon its banks an Egyptian propylaeum approached by an avenue of sphinxes from the base of the Washington Monument. Its exit through the gateway upon the river would be a magnificent entrance to the proposed ornamental bridge to the Arlington shore. This conception can be powerfully and cheaply realized in concrete. The piers would lie hollow. The sphinxes can also be readily reproduced. The Egyptians built, not for exquisite detail but for duration. They understood better than any other nation how to make their colossi and avenues of sphinxes group themselves into parts of one grand design. With the most brilliant coloring they thus harmonized sculpture, painting, and architecture into one great whole, unsurpassed by anything the world has seen during the thirty centuries of struggle and aspiration that have elapsed since the brilliant days of the great kingdom of the Pharaohs. — Fkrgusson. We have borrowed their commemorative form, the obelisk, “simple, erect, sublime,” for a memorial to the Father of his Country. At its base may be effectively and appropriately added their material expression or duration — the sphinx — placidly immobile as the Olympian god; dreamingly observant of its own existence, passing onward through thirty centuries, but as a mote upon the current of an eternity “ without beginning of days or end of years. ’ ’ Imagination may picture glowingly to the eye of the mind this vast pile, darkening by its stately mass the setting sun, whose rays gleam upon the rippling river through the majestic portals while eastward they “ linger and play upon the summit” that inspires faith in a long future for the work of Washington. There could not be devised, I believe, a more impressive and ornamental use of the uninteresting flats recovered from the Potomac than the ele- vationt hereupon of the simple but exquisite upward lines of the pyra- mids — those “ mighty royal tombs;” “eternal dwellings of the dead;” “the oldest, largest, and most mysterious of all the monuments of man’s art now existing. ’ ’ LARGE MODELS OF VAST CONSTRUCTIONS. I05 The models would be hollow, to save needless material. By electric light this interior space could be thoroughly utilized. In one, the King’s Chamber (34 feet 3 inches by 17 feet 1 inch) and passage thereto should be accurately illustrated, with their walls and roofs of splendid slabs of polished granite, but this would not at all necessitate a solid construction of the remaining mass. One pyramid should show the exterior surface in its pristine beauty, reveted with polished stones; the others in their present spoliated con- No.D2. — Town Hall, Antwerp. Restoration. dition, with courses of steps. In concrete the exact proportion of the enormous blocks in the pyramids, and the vast blocks which formed the avenue of approach exciting the wonder of Herodotus, could be precisely duplicated. Near by the model of the Pyramid of Cheops' should be cast a full model (hollow) in concrete of the largest quarried stone in the world, at Baalbec, 71 feet long by 14 feet high by 13 feet wide. Among these objects, and fringing the banks of the Potomac, should wave ■The largest was 760 feet square, 484 feet high, covering more than 13 acres, twice the area of St. Peter’s. io6 CONTENTS OF NATIONAL GALLERIES. masses of the reedy lotus with its superb lilies. The plantation of Mr. Sturtevant, at Bordentown, X. J., should be repeated with appropriate surroundings. Precisely this method of illustration in more complex forms has been applied to geological illustrations in the grounds of Sydenham Palace, reproducing the scenery of ante-Silurian ages, with mammoth forms of animal life. In Rome we visit the Pyramid of Caius Cestius, the tomb of a tribune of the people, built, according to its record, in three hundred and thirty days. It is 1 16 feet high, 98 feet square at base, faced with marble. The cost of this tomb of an individual to-day would be more than that of the three effective models of the Pyramids of Gizeh above described, of larger dimensions in concrete. 'j. — Gi:e of Si. Bernard, fro— Par^ in irr- Tiase .: rraacts L For rinie— *rr tie PotraufC. Re~tonnoo EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE GALLERIES: THEIR METHODS AND FACILITIES FOR THE DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE The only freedom worth possessis.;; i> that wh:. h gi . - - enla^rement : a reer h ~ cEt-r^v. intellect, and virtue?. The -vivic- bo&?e? f his freed '— : at what is :t worth ? — C HANNING. As ultimately to constitute one of the most extensive and useful departments under government control the direction : the National Galleries should be secured forever to a regency corresponding to that of the Smithsonian Institution. tablishment consist s of the President and Vice-President of the United States, the members of the Cabinet, the Chief Justice of the United States, an nffiwal of W ashing ton and "‘honorary memters. as they may elect.' The third section of the - ' . - - . ~ :r:m which the regents shall be chosen. For the National Galleries the latter — - - . . the Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, and other prominent educa- tor' from the States In snppoation that the Galleries have been provided, and that thev io8 EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE GALLERIES. have received sufficient material for the commencement of its activities, we will anticipate their beneficent and expansive results. First. LECTURES: There would, be employment for a staff of able professors in history , art, and archeology. Intelligent students of the silent relics and restorations from the past, to interpret the lessons they reveal, to unite facts in the chain of evidence, to explain the wide scopeof their revelations, would be demanded. Therefore the plan provides lecture halls for each section of historical material. Our country may find some compensation for its long and utter depriva- tion of such facilities in its opportunity to begin with all the appliances which experience has proved to lie expedient. No foreign institution covering the whole field of exhibits has any such provision for their public and scholarly elucidation. When the institute is organized lectures upon No. 84. — Salon, Fontainebleau. Restoration. the various historical courts should be delivered constantly throughout the year, so that excursionists from the entire country could always find instructors at their posts. In 1882 Mr. Edward A. Bond, principal librarian of the British Museum, reported as follows: Educational uses of the Museum. — In concluding this general review of the gradual formation of the different collections, it may be held excusable to point out that they are exhibited not as mere objects of curiosity or of passing interest, but as means of direct instruction in art, archaeology, and natural science. It would seem, however, that this truth is far from being recognized. As yet, but few are the occasions when a lecture or a demonstration is offered to a school or class brought to a particular gallery for instruction. If lessons could be given to students from the visible objects and specimens exhibited in the Museum, it can not be doubted that a more living interest in the lectures and publications. 109 sciences that they illustrate would be awakened than can be excited by the more usual modes of teaching from the book. Until this method is generally followed it can not be said that the British Museum or other kindred institutions are properly appreciated or made to assist as the} 7 ought the progress of education. In 188S the librarian enforced the importance of lectures thus: ' * * “The trustees have not the power to institute a system of teaching from the collections further than by means of printed catalogues and guides. A few very valuable lec- tures have of late been given on antiquities, * * * and it may lx: hoped that increased attention to the study will lead to an extension of this method of utilizing the collections.” It would be difficult to write more appositely in commendation of the scheme herein set forth. Unhappily for the librarian’s recommendation at home, the cold, crowded halls of the British Museum are insufficient for the material No. 85. — Chamber at Aizrey. Restoration. they have to exhibit. The sentence previous to the above extracts deplores the crowded state of “the basement ’’ “ from want of exhibiting space,’’ where are “stored, rather than exhibited, very interesting monu- ments of antiquity — Roman sepulchers, Greek inscriptions, etc.’’ There can be no accomodation for lectures in connection with the present exhibition halls. The following is an announcement of lectures at South Kensington: A course of twelve lectures on anatomy as applicable to the arts is given in each term. A course of forty lectures on the Historical Development of Ornamental Art is given each year. Other lectures will be delivered occasionally and duly announced. Application for admission, prospectuses, or other information should be made at the schools. There is an annual examination for prizes in all schools of art, and a national competition. I IO EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE GALLERIES. Second. Publications: Illustrated , instructive. The Galleries, as they practically develop into an institute of illustra- tion. will publish handbooks critical and explanatory of each depart- ment, like those of the Kensington Museum on Spanish art, Persian art, on Furniture, etc. The following is an entry in the Guide to the South Kensington Museum on the copious list of its publications: Handbooks . — Handbooks of Industrial Art, edited by William Maskell, M. A. Textile fabrics, ivories, majolica, furniture, musical instruments, bronzes, glass, gold- and silversmiths’ work. With numerous illustrations. Compiled from the introductions to the larger works on the same subjects named alxrve. is. each; in cloth, is. 6d. This is a specimen announcement of a list of sixty publications “ fo r sale at the catalogue stall.” Other titles are, “The Trajan Column as No. 86. — Gallery of Francis I, Fontainebleau. Restoration. reproduced in the Museum,” “Fictile Ivories,” “ Monuments of Early Christian Art.” ” Manual of Design,” etc. All the material thus made available to the ]>eople could be quickly supplied from our National Galleries; and, moreover, the novel expe- dients above provided will supply matter more attractive for such publications than any existing institution. Each restoration of an ancient or modern building would demand its illustrated catalogue like that of the Pompeia, of which 235,000 have been circulated, and which is now a text-book in colleges. What more effective historical lessons can be suggested than a book with photogravures of the 102 illustrations of Roman History, by Pi- nelli, each with sufficient text to explain its meaning; and these repre- sentations imprinted on the memory from paintings, with the characters to life in size and with their original accessories? REPRODUCTIONS FOR SAI.E. I I I These text-books, catalogues, and all essays, treatises, etc., emanating from the professors of the institute, would be sold at the lowest mini- mum of cost for widest possible circulation. Photographs in like manner would be for sale of all interesting objects, as in the museums of Europe. These would furnish to all minor collec- tions fac similes of the objects in the National Galleries to the extent of their financial resources. Incidentally, publications and photographs would supply exchanges with other institutions upon the plan advocated by Monsieur Vattemare a generation ago. The King of the Belgians commanded an historical painting of great value, upon an incident of national history, and the engraving of it in No. 87. — Chamber of Marie de Medicis. Restoration. best execution ; then impressions were sold at a nominal price, that lowly homes of his subjects coidd be adorned with a work elevating in influence toward patriotism and culture. In like manner from the national Capital there may issue to distant hamlets portrayals of the national history, impressing the youth of the nation with its crises and triumphs, from Washington at Trenton to Lincoln at Gettysburg. This suggestion of publications for other institutions indicates another result of the greatest importance to the entire country, viz : Third. Reproductions of all objects practicable by casts , electrotypes , etc. The facilities offered by foreign institutions for the distribution of counterparts of their objects have been already recited. Our country is to this date entirely dependent upon them. The art museums of our I 12 EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE GALLERIES. cities and colleges, trifling as are the largest of them in comparison with the material available, are all now dependent upon foreign importations at excessive extra expense. Why should this continue? Why should not our Government establish its central depository of models from which should be supplied to all applicants replica at minimum cost? The plan of the National Galleries provides for basement shops beneath all the halls for such purposes. The plastic establishments for casts, potteries, and kilns for terra cottas, laboratories for electro- types, etc. , mentioned as to be provided, should cheapen to the utmost art products for the nation. At this writing I read of a visit of directors of the New York Museum to the Slater Museum, for examination of an importation by the latter, in view of an expenditure of $50,000 for casts. Considering their cheapness the nation should at once sup- ply all that are desirable to itself at its Capital, and then establish facilities by which communities throughout the land may have the choice of all for their use at the least expense. An illustration of the zeal with which the British Gov- ernment .seeks its antiquarian materials is a published “min- ute ’ ’ of correspondence of Earl Granville, 1864, of the com- mittee of council on education, with the secretary of state for foreign affairs, soliciting his official aid through Her Majesty’s representatives at Dresden, Paris, Rome, etc., in procuring information as to objects of fine art or art work- manship, that copies may lie obtained. The vigor of the search, which was “instructed” by Lord John Russell, is indicated by this schedule: A. The private collections of the Sovereign and in Royal Palaces. B. The state or public collections. C. The collections of the church, in the treasuries of cathedrals, churches, monasteries, etc. No. 88.— Court in the palace of the Infanta, Saragossa, Spain. Restoration. BUREAUS OK INFORMATION BY CORRESPONDENCE. D. The collections of towns, guilds, municipalities, in their halls. K. Well-known collections of private individuals which are heirlooms of permanent collections. In the report of the Kensington Museum of 1864 it is stated: “Arrange- ments now exist by which every object of the art collections may lie copied by some one of the many processes.’’ The United States can not claim equality in intellectual enterprise with the European powers until they enter the competition for its rewards. No. 89. — Nomian Gate, College Green. Bristol, England. Restoration. Fourth. The institute would maintain an efficient bureau of informa- I tion and correspondence.. This department would not only facilitate the examination of the col- lections, but it would answer inquiries and obtain models or drawings, as desired, of other relevant objects. It would investigate for parties at a ■ distance, by its indexed catalogue of engravings above proposed, illus- trations in the lines of their designs or investigations, besides the cata- logues of specimens held by the Galleries, returning descriptions thereof, or photographs if desired. Those who have had the tedious and unsatisfactory experience of a S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 2 8 1 14 EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION OK THE GALLERIES. search in the large libraries of our cities and colleges for art illustrations of a special theme will appreciate the superlative usefulness of such collateral aid. If the duplicates or photographs of foreign collections are largely obtained and thoroughly indexed, as is essential to their use, this bureau of information would l>e easily organized, and it would be a help to scholarly and artistic labors unequaled of its kind. The liberal system of the Boston Public Library in these regards is, in many details, a model for all literary institutions. It issues not only catalogues, but bulletins, upon various subjects as guides to readers and No. 90.— German Cloth, Hall Brunswick, l-a^ade in restoration. investigators. It employs assistants to answer literary inquiries, either in person or by correspondence. It invites requests for the purchase of books — new, rare, or for special use. It maintains its agents in Europe to answer requsitions. The poor student may apply for foreign volumes upon his special topic, and upon their receipt a notification will be sent to him. It places its catalogues and an express service at branch offices for the few leisure hours of the mechanic. Above all, it trusts the people. From its beginning, despite predictions of robbery and damage, it has loaned its books to them in their homes. For thirty years they have demonstrated their integrity, the annual loss and injury having been PATRONAGE OF ART. ”5 trifling. Its staff numbers nearly one hundred and fifty persons; its annual expense is something over $100,000. No tax upon the citizens is more cheerfully accepted. These details are appropriate to the prospectus here discussed. By similar methods the institute should spread forth its facilities and mul- tiply its benefits. It should be the servant, diligent and painstaking, of the most distant American citizen. Fifth. Grandly beneficent and stimulating to the culture of the nation would be the patronage of art by the National Galleries. This would result first by its orders for the series of historical paintings described. The method for their acquisition has already been indicated. It involves the employment of preceptors, both of general scholarship and artistic manipulation; the one to supply the data, the other to direct their acceptable artistic representation. Naturally from this demand would follow, competitions in design. These should be an annual incident of the institute of the greatest public interest. They would necessitate a salon of public exhibition of cartoons and an award of prizes. Art would be consecrated to patriotism; its works would be diverted to heroic inspirations, rather than as at present, almost entirely to fanciful, romantic, airy, and intangible creations.' This comment would in no wise disparage sentiment and imagination in art. Delicacy and spirituality everywhere environ us in nature. The zephyr that fans us, the sun-rays and clouds, make the glory and beauty of the heavens; the ethereal world of artist life, and of his imita- tive ambition. In the spiritual and poetic impulses of his nature he animates that airy creation with angels and fairies and would fain bring them down to earth and enliven haunts of nature for their paradise. 1 1 cut from the issue of the New York Times, of the date of this writing (April 26), a report of the exhibits at the next salon: “The list of pictures opens with Bougereau’s ‘ Cupid in a Storm; ’ ‘ Love as a child, shivering in the rain,’ etc. We must pity him and hasten on! We proceed to read: Pelouse, ‘ The Morning Dew; ’ Fleury, 1 A Billet-doux; ’ Marquan, ‘ A Siren's Sleeping- place; ’ ‘Birth of the Pearl;’ and ‘Toilet of Ganswinthe.’ ” Of 58 pictures recited but 3 have any relation to history or knowledge, viz, “ Lauren’s Visit of Louis XVI to the Hotel de Ville,” a painting 30 feet by 12 feet, and Roy’s pictures of “The Reveille of Solferino” and “The Infantry of 1835.” The latter reveal a successor in subjects to Meissonier. The exhibits of American artists number 54. The subjects are almost entirely fanciful and imaginary, save a few portraits and landscapes. Mr. Weeks exhibits his realistic and beautiful Oriental scenes; Mr. Humphrey Moore, of New York, a scene in the Alhambra, and Mr. Clinton Peters, “A twilight scene in the streets of Paris, fifteenth century.” These clothe facts in beauty and truth, and are contribu- tions to knowledge, for which they have this expression of indebtedness. In the same issue it is stated that the art dealer Gill, of Springfield, Mass., has sold, from his last collection of American pictures, 60 canvasses. The first named is Warren Shepard’s “ Kearsarge and Alabama,” for 51,200. The others named are all fanciful: “Snow-Flakes,” “Coming,” etc. Mr. Shepard's patriotic choice of subject merited this appreciative notice. AID TO MECHANICAL AND DECORATIVE ART. I 16 These are the fields and the only fields for some artistic souls, that may well be styled ‘ ‘ impressionists, ’ ’ and when they can seize upon and fix their visions, art is in its most fascinating realm. Ihit there is prose as well as poetry in life; there is conflict as well as romance; there is the clash of arms as well as the sigh of the lover; and for the strength of the race, mental and moral, art should be somewhat diverted from sentimental to actual relations. Our country needs its aid in reproducing actualities of its past history that shall imprint upon the national character integrity, patriotism, and the heroic virtues upon which its existence depends. Sixth. Aid to media n ical and decorative arts will be one of the most practical and valuable functions of the Galleries. When as completely organ- ized and equipped as the South Kensington Museum, the American National Galleries will accomplish for the people of the United States the incal- culable benefits of the former to the British nation. The result of its forty years operations has been such an impetus to British decorative art and architecture that the nation is now the peer of Ger- many and France in many departments in which, pre- viously, it was an inferior. European nations, not con- tent with their accumulations of past centuries, have followed the exam- ple of the Kensington Museum. The Austrian Museum of Art, founded 1863, and the Germanic Museum, at Nuremberg, for promotion of Ger- man historical research, greatly enlarged since 1865, are evidences of their zeal. Paris, in addition to its famous galleries, has its Musee des Arts Dec- oratifs, with corresponding and interchanging museums in the larger cities. Eight thousand students attend lectures in Paris. In the Ecole des Beaux Arts there are twenty-one professors of the highest rank. No. 91. — Schonnen Brunneu, Nuremberg, tion. Kestora- EMPLOYMENT OF EDUCATED STAFF. II? It is unpleasant to contrast with these facts that, in these lines of investigation, our country has at its Capital attempted nothing. To the beneficence of an Englishman we are indebted for an institution of which we may lie proud — the Smithsonian. It has won position for ability and efficiency equal to all other scientific organizations of the world. But its labor, of a technical and philosophical nature, is in distinct demarcation from the field designated for the proposed institution. 1 Seventh. Employment of a refined and educational nature for men and women would result upon a large scale from the activities of the institute. At the outset, the constructions would employ ordinary and mechanical labor. 1 It covers the ethnology, ornithology, geology, etc.; the entire natural history of our territory. It explores, analyzes, and reveals the mineral treasures of our land. It pursues with the keenest scientific observation the animalculoe that may infect the air, the water, or the products of our country. It is now crowded with material gathered in the exploration and development of our territories. It should have the National Museum enlarged to receive collections that have of late been refused; and large appropriations of money for its worthy uses. In enthusiasm for the purpose of its organization, its regency will eagerly indorse this proposed institution, as a complement to their own for the “dissemination of knowledge among men.” The National Museum at Washington covers 2.35 acres, and is one of the best structures in the world for its purposes. The accumulations of material for its pur- 1 18 EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE GALLERIES. The operation and expansion of its educational work would demand curators, artists, sculptors, photographers, electrotypers, molders, clerks, guides, gardeners, mechanics, watchmen, janitors, laliorers, etc. If the Boston Public Library employs 150 persons, in stimulating knowledge, from its one resource — lx>oks — the Galleries would demand more, in the care, increase, and utilization of its material. Such a pay roll would be unsurpassed, for compensating beneficence, in the files of the National Treasury. What contrast to the oppressive and exhaustive burdens upon European nations for maintenance of armies in idleness! A percentage of this outlay would be added to the cost of casts and other reproductions sold throughout the United States, lessening by a credit account the draft upon the National Treasury. It is related that Louis XYI employed 30,000 soldiers upon the pleas- ure parks of his royal domain at Versailles. It is a direful necessity that the nation must now appropriate heavily to warlike defenses; although a satisfaction that the disbursement gives employment to artisans, and that war ships continue to others a support. What greater return would flow from an expenditure that maintained a proportionate establishment for mental elevation of the people! Further illustrations of temples and dwellings are inserted, specimens desirable for entire or partial reconstruction. poses now awaiting space for exhibition demand a duplicate of the present building, for which plans are prepared. But to show how completely distinct its useful fields of study and illustration are from the proposed National Galleries, the following statement is quoted from President J. C. Welling, LL. D., of the Columbian U ni versity , Wash i ngton : “The National Museum has twenty-two distinct scientific departments under its jurisdiction: The departments of comparative anatomy, of mammals, of birds, of reptiles, of fishes, of mollusks, of insects, of marine invertebrates, of plants, of fossil vertebrates, of Paleozoic fossil invertebrates, of Mesozoic fossil invertebrates, of Cenozoic fossil invertebrates, of fossil plants, of geology and petrology, of mineral- ogy, of metallurgy and mining, of prehistoric archaeology, of ethnology, of oriental antiquities, of American aboriginal pottery, of arts and industries, comprising, under these last-named heads, numismatics, graphic arts, foods, textiles, fisheries, historical relics, materia medica, naval architecture, history of transportation, etc. “ Each of these departments is placed under a curator, and is provided with the necessary appliances for original research; and these appliances are yearly increasing in completeness and efficiency.” ESTIMATED COST OF THE GALLERIES— A CENTRAL AND MOST ADVANTAGEOUS SITE IN WASHINGTON; NOW UNIMPROVED AND CHEAPLY AVAILABLE— THE FUTURE OF WASHINGTON. In America literature and the elegant arts must grow up side by side with the coarser plants of daily necessity. — I rving. Young America will soon be what Athens was. — Wendrll Phillips. The true grandeur of humanity is in moral elevation, sustained, enlightened, and decorated by the intellect of man. — Charles Sumner. The building of the Casa Monica involved all the data pertaining to the cost of concrete construction. That structure has now stood four years with increase of solidity and enhancement of beauty in color. The Pompeia has supplied an example, in a finer mixture of sand and concrete only, upon the lines of the Roman Doric order — precisely the material and forms proposed in the design herewith submitted. The cost at Washington will be considerably less than at St. Augus- tine, by the saving in shipment of cement the long distance to Florida. For sand there would be a water transportation directly to a site upon the Potomac. These are the cheapest possible conditions. As authoritative from an architect of fifty years’ practice, and in the prac- tical use of beton (concrete) in the Cathedral of New York, the estimated cost of Mr. James Renwick from his above-quoted letter is appended : With regard to the cost of the galleries and corner towers, it will of course be dependent on the favorable or unfavorable position on which the building is located. I have made the following estimate for ioo feet of the Galleries, with a basement 10 feet high and foundations carried 5 feet below the surface of the ground. The galleries are 32 feet high and 35 feet wide, and the colonnades 25 feet high and 13 feet broad each, and the building is supposed to stand 011 level ground : .The estimate is as follows : Excavation, 1,700 cubic yards #<800 Concrete in whole building, 48,650 cubic feet, at 25 cents 12,163 Models of columns, etc 2, 000 Iron beams, 34,250 pounds, at 5 cents 1, 800 7,600 feet of roof and skylight 7, 600 Twenty windows in basement 500 One-eighth of coi ner towers, estimated at 6, 000 Heating by steam 500 Total cost of 100 feet of Galleries This is probably a safe estimate, within 7 per cent. Yours, truly, 31.363 James Renwick. 119 120 CHINESE CONSTRUCTION No. 95— Norwegian church, Hitterdal. Twelfth Century. No. 96.— Russian cathedral, Vassili Blankskency, No. 97. —Egyptian Mosque of Kailbey Restoration. Model. Moscow. Sixteenth Century. Model. 122 COST OF THE NATIONAL GALLERIES. The item of models in the above estimate may lie averaged over i ,000 feet of galleries, but the alxjve figures make the cost of 20,000 feet range of galleries; that is, all upon the ground plan, angle towers included, complete, about $6, 000, 000. It is estimated that $4,000,000 additional would construct the Parthe- nonic temples and many other historical buildings and objects. One million dollars will construct the Roman and Greek galleries, and another will richly supply them with illustrative material of the greatest educational value. Could this specimen be accomplished, public interest would quickly demand the entirety. It seems almost needless to argue as to the ability of the country to command at once the entire work and hasten to the present generation its resultant benefits. It would be less than the cost of the United States Capitol, of the Brooklyn Bridge, of the State House of New York, or of the City Hall of Philadelphia.' When the first paper in behalf of the National Galleries was prepared, it was assumed, in ignorance of the contrary, that the institution must l>e placed in the suburbs of Washington. It was suggested that a land syndicate would give 250 acres from a tract of, say, 1,000 acres, for the enhancement in value of the remainder. Inquiry at Washington of owners of extensive tracts emphatically confirmed the opinion. 2 This anticipated provision of land gratis was stated in the “brief" upon the National Galleries prepared for the press at its first presenta- tion in Washington in December, 1890. It brought a gratifying surprise ■The Grand Opera House, Paris, cost $9,otx>,(xx>. The Capitol has cost $17,000000. The new State, War and Navy Building, $10,000,000. The new building for the Congressional Library is to cost $6,000,000. Chicago spent last year $59,000,000 on buildings that on one side of a street would extend over 50 miles. New York spent $74,900,812. The combined expenditure of the United States and foreign countries for the Columbian Exposition is estimated at $40,000,000. The appropriations of the last Congress will amount to more than $1,000,000,000. The cost of the ship of war, the Ohio , for one year of service, was $220,000 ; of Harvard College, $47,935. In other words, the annual sum lavished on a single ship of the line equals that paid for four institutions like Harvard University. — The True Grandeur of Nations, Sumner’s Oration, July 4, 1S50. - The author is advised by prominent residents of Washington to make the follow- ing statement, in consideration of the speculative interest frequently associated with enterprises affecting values of adjacent real estate, viz: That he does not own a foot of land in the city of Washington or its neighborhood, nor has he any intention of such ownership, and that he is not acquainted with the proprietor of any land west of the Treasury Department. Fortunately, the Observatory tract, if condemned at once by the Government, is beyond speculative monopoly, while its Ixmndaries pre- vent anv realization of increased value except on the north; all which line is now held by manv individual owners in homestead. The tract is bounded on the west by the Potomac River; on the east and south by Government parks. COMPARATIVELY CHEAP CONSTRUCTIONS. 123 from Colonel Anderson, secretary of the Washington Board of Trade, viz, that the best possible site was available in the premises of the National Observatory, upon the Potomac, and the adjacent block, as indicated upon the plans of Washington. This site was described as follows, in his argument before the Senate Committee upon a World’s Exposition, January 10, 1S90: One of the most important features is an easily accessible site, and to illustrate the wonderful advantages Washington has in this respect over all other lities I invite your attention to the accompanying diagram illustrating the last-mentioned site. [This was the plan, fig. 7.] The existing park extending from the Capitol to the Monument and Executive Mansion contains 300 acres. Over 700 more acres will soon be added by the recla- mation of the Potomac Flats, and 220 more can be added by using the grounds of the Observatory, which is soon to be removed, and by condemning the adjoining and comparatively unimproved property between F and B streets and the State Department and Observatory. These 220 acres are above the flood line, well adapted No. 98. — The old Observatory building. to drainage and most desirable for permanent buildings. All street-car lines con- verge toward or run parallel with it. All s earn lines from the North. South, and West enter it, except the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and that adjoins it. The Potomac River faces it. Attention is invited to the important fact that vessels can land and unload their freights at wharves immediately adjoining the grounds. The tract occupies, about 25 acres of this tract, which are now being vacated. It rises to 60 feet above the Potomac, about the level of the Capitol. From this it slopes to the Potomac on the west and the Presi- dential grounds on the east. Topographically it is all that could be desired for a realization of the design for the Galleries. 124 THE NAVAL OBSERVATORY — EXPEDIENT SITE. It is of the highest importance that they should lie centrally located in the national metropolis. Its attractions would invite the longest stay possible by the people who would come from afar to study and enjoy them, and who would suffer both in time and money by travel to a distance in the suburbs. The British Museum and the Kensington are in the heart of London ; and the Louvre, Luxembourg, Ecole des Beaux Arts, andCluny Museums are likewise in the center of Paris. A university may well be located in retirement, but a museum should l>e directly in the public pathway. Nothing more could be desired in this regard for the Galleries than the Observatory site, adjoining the Executive and departmental buildings. The remainder of the tract eastward to Seventeenth street, described No. 99. — View of land eastward from Naval Observatory. by the secretary of the Board of Trade in the note appended, is now in the unsightly condition pictured from photographs herewith. A portion of it is the common dumping ground of the city. The tract is held by very many owners, and can never be redeemed from its present shabbi- nesss except by a general condemnation. .Since it adjoins the grounds of the Executive Mansion and the Washington Monument, such action seems inevitable, and the more speedily it is accomplished the less will be the draft upon the National Treasury. It is a remarkably encouraging fact toward this enterprise, that the site of the Observatory buildings is now graded and terraced, precisely as wanted for the Columbian and American temples. The area within the walls is alxmt 19 acres, with 1,100 feet range north and south, ample TRACT ADJOINING OBSERVATORY. 1^5 to contain the dominant structures. In a twelvemonth their magnificent elevation might be added to the architectural grandeur of the National Capital . 1 Such a result would stimulate the patriotic pride of the nation in the seat of its representative authority. The location of the Capital was originally in compromise of competition between States for its possession. Situated on the midway line of the North and the South, its improvement was retarded for three-quarters of No. loo. — Premises adjoining the Observatory, eastward. a century by the sectional conflicts which culminated in civil war. The final adjustment reestablished a faith in the permanency of the Union that was expressed in the immediate aggrandizement of Washington. 1 Since the above was prepared for the press. the followir g gratifying -nm ■ unce- ment is made: “The Corcoran Art Gallery has bought a large piece of land in Washington on New York avenue and Seventeenth street, running through t. • E street. It is an irregular plot, having 340 feet on the avenue. 260 on Seventeenth street, and 292 on E street. The cost of this land was 5154.022. and only the alisolute need of the gal- lery for a larger building would have induced the trustees to spend so much on a new site. The constant rise of price in real estate at the Capital i> an. >ther reason for immediate action.'* The property described is in the front easterly line of the block suggested for the National Galleries, opposite the extension of the grounds of the Executive Mansi n ' v. Plans, figs. 6 and 7 The Corcoran Gallery . to continue for generations, as we hope, to gather the gems of art. will thus be located at the entrance of our supposed Park Istoria. If the Government secures, as it ought, the block of 220 acres, then the Corcoran Gallery will be provided for future expansion without further expendi- ture for land. It is an opportune encouragement that the trustees have located precisely where the theory of the present scheme would have chosen. 1 26 A CONVENIENT LOCATION. The original magnificent scale of the French engineer, L’ Enfant, the friend of General Washington, after the general plan of Versailles, as proportionate to the future of the Republic, was found to be none too grand, but only commensurate with its promise. The Capitol was enlarged in grandeur, rivaling all governmental structures of the world. Secretary Seward pronounced it unequaled, after his tour around the world. Its classic style, appropriate for the dignity of legislative uses, accords with that of its counterpart advocated. The shaft of the monumental obelisk that had stayed incomplete for twenty-one years, as if uncertain of its story of success or failure to posterity, was carried to its apex, above all human constructions. Executive departments were established in stateliness of construction and extent of capacity, prophetic of the expansion of the nation whose will and power they administered. Liberal appropriations were applied to the transformation of Washington from its previous forlorn aspect of indifference and neglect. When the representatives of States that had been at war reassembled for restoration of their legislative halls to service of peace and good will, social reconciliation and amenities replaced personal animosities and assaults. A cordiality in private life ensued that has made Wash- ington exceptional for hospitality. Increased expenditure for scientific and literary interests attracted hither appreciative patrons to enjoy them. Washington became the center of American historical material, to which rich accessions were made by purchase of the Force and other private collections. These increasing intellectual resources have drawn to it a residential class of affluent and scholarly people, who find it more congenial than any other American city. It is now assured to lie a continental focus of refined, intelligent society, secure from the turmoil and obstructions of commerce and the discords of manufacturing communities. These influences have combined to stimulate the growth and adorn- ment of the capital at an unprecedented rate. Washington is rapidly centralizing within itself both the federal and popular sentiment of the American people. Its forty-four allied sovereignties consolidate therein the great functions which they have delegated for common weal and defence. The constituents of these states recognize that the incidents of their local history and ancestral pride, the crises of Bunker Hill,York- town, and New Orleans, aggregate in an example of world-wide benefi- cence beneath the dome of their National Legislature. Never in the history of mankind has a city been favored with a fairer and more potential promise. Founded upon the popular devotion of 65,000,000 people, the material exponent of their union in liberty and fraternity, it will inevitably reflect their interest and liberality. They are proud of its elevation upon the TRANSFORMATION OF WASHINGTON. 127 common foundation of their political system — a universal elementary education; as the sanctuary of their charter of freedom — a national constitution; of its multiplied charms of rural beauty; its facilities for rational enjoyment of social life. This legitimate pride will constitute an important element in the patriotism that must defend the national life. It will be wise to stimulate such national ambition; to foster rivalry with the old nations in all intellectual expedients that shall parallel a preeminent advance in the science of government. Washington must become a glory of the Republic, beyond its posses- sion of national force, in its resources for- knowledge, its grandeur of art and architecture. As the Hellenes materialized their intellectual con- ceptions and aspirations on the Acropolis, Americans will henceforth centralize the illustration of their achievements and aims in the National Capital. They will rear its counterpart in a complete and harmonious temple of knowledge. The time has come for its commencement. The desire for knowledge by the people waits for the use of their abundant wealth to aid its acquisition . 1 1 It is repellent to place in such connection the mercenary advantages that would residt. We will leave to the financier and investor calculations as to the pecuniary result to real-estate owners in Washington and holders of securities upon railroads diverging therefrom when Washington shall have become “both the Berlin and Paris of America,” in its attraction thither of thousands of resident scholars and students by the unequaled advantages of its National Galleries; when many more thousands shall flow to it from all sections of the country as the richest center of the world for practical and diversified object illustration. Transportation companies, landholders, tradesmen may readily figure that they will receive in return more than the interest of the investment. The enormous advance in Washington real estate the last ten years is a basis for prophecy of the future. In i860 its population was 61,122; in 1890, 220,000. No. 101. — Nozze Aldsbrandini— The Marriage — From the Baths of Titus. WAYS AND MEANS FOR THE NATIONAL GALLERIES. If a mart do not erect in this age his own tomb ere he dies, he shall live no longer in monument than the bell rings and the widow weeps. — SHAKESPEARE. Who that surveys this span of earth we press, This speck of life in Time’s great wilderness, This narrow isthmus ’twixt two boundless seas, The past, the future, two eternities! Would sully the bright spot or leave it bare When he might build him a proud temple there, A name that long shall hallow all its space And be each purer soul’s high resting place! — Moore. The first announcement of this enterprise to the public was by a brief of this paper prepared for a meeting of Congressional press correspond- ents at the Arlington Hotel, Washington, December 27, 1890. From that summary several of the largest journals of the country published copious details, with strong commendation of the object. These articles caused mention of the matter from Maine to Shasta, Cal., and Oshkosh, Wis., without unfavorable comment from seventy notices received, except in three or four instances. These few considered the extent of the constructions excessive, but with good reason in misap- prehension of the plan. They assumed that the whole area was to be covered with roofs, whereas the open courts of 3 to 6 acres each require 30 to 40 acres of ground. This misconception suggested the evidence 128 FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS. 1 29 given, that alltlie floor area upon the plan, if ultimately provided, will be less than that of single constructions in Europe. Shall the richest nation of the world, claiming the highest average intelligence, supply themselves with less intellectual facilities than those of other nations — the legacies of monarchical institutions? The Peri- clean age of Greece and the Augustan age of Rome, the glory of one and the grandeur of the other, rose upon a basis of republican institutions. The splendor and extent of the French Exposition of 1889, surpassing all its predecessors despite the nonconcurrence of neighboring sovereigns, united the enthusiasm of the people. It wrought its richest result to the nation in the firm establishment and recognition of its republican government. This argument is relevant to the problem of ways and means for the establishment and maintenance upon the largest scale of the National Gal- leries. History 7 has demonstrated that an intelligent people, aspiring to intellectual elevation, will command all possible aid from their unstinted resources. When the people are ‘ ‘ enflamed with the study of learning and the admiration of virtue, ’ ’ when they seize upon the promise and crave the pleasure of mental cultivation, their legislators will voice their eager- ness and supply the means. The aggregate voluntary expenditure of the nation — State, municipal, and private — for educational purposes has steadily increased. Six months’ interest on the appropriations of the Fifty-fifth Congress, at 2}4 per cent, would supply $12,500,000, more than ample to build and equip the needed institution. Were the entire cost of the National Galleries voted at once, not an individual in the nation would be conscious of the fact as affecting his property or income. But the expenditure would necessarily be protracted through several years. New York subscribed $5,000,000 for a Columbian Exposition. The appropriation of $10,000,000 during five or ten y'ears from the National Treasury is a trifle in comparison. The latter would be for an enduring result; the former was for the temporary' show of a season. Information of the Observatory site and the coincidence of its early abandonment for the new premises awaiting occupation give great encouragement for its immediate appropriation to the National Gal leries. The Fiftieth Congress made one record of prompt and unanimous action for the people’s prospective satisfaction, greatly to its honor. It is a precedent quite unusual of patriotic suppression of partisanship that may be an example, illustrious in future imitation. On the 23d of August, 1890, the Committee on Public Lands of the House of Representatives reported a bill “to set apart a certain tract of land in California known as the Yosemite Valley' forever as a public park. ’ ’ It was passed the same day without a division. On the 25th of August S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 2 9 130 CONGRESSIONAL APPROPRIATIONS. the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Public Lands. It was returned to the Senate on the 8th of September, and passed without debate in fourteen days from its report to the House. That bill preserved for the nation groves of the gigantic Sequoia trees from the ax of the woodman. The enterprise herein commended to legislative adoption and main- tenance will plant “all manner of trees’’ of knowledge, in more than restoration of the classic groves of Hellenic philosophy, that shall yield the richest fruitage of ancient art and wisdom, enhanced in the light of modern development. It will be a demonstration of the intelligence that underlies American institutions if such beneficent aims can be as quickly promoted with zeal and unanimity by their representatives. The wise and encouraging opinion of Senator Hawley (see frontis- piece) is here repeated; for, in the judgment of many who have indorsed it emphatically, it solves the problem of ways and means for the National Galleries: I BELIEVE THAT IF A SECTION OF THE EGYPTIAN AND ROMAN COURTS AND GAL- LERIES CAN BE BUILT WITH THE ILLUSTRATIONS PROPOSED, THE RICH MEN OF THE COUNTRY WILL RAPIDLY COMPLETE THE SERIES.’ THEY WILL WELCOME A SCHEME OF SUCH MATERIAL AND PERMANENT USEFULNESS. THE PEOPLE GENERALLY WILL FREELY CONTRIBUTE BUILDINGS OR OBJECTS REQUIRED. They would be the most lasting monuments to their memory.— [Senator Hawley. If the above petition to Congress for the 17 acres of land required could be supplemented by the offer of one or more citizens to contribute $150,000 for construction, decoration, and supply of 100 feet range each of the Egyptian and Roman Courts and Galleries, located according to the general plan as a demonstration of the full design, there would be great assurance of its rapid, entire completion. The Government would need only to supply the land. An appeal would follow to the people of the United States to finish all, according to published detail drawings and descriptions of material required to fit and fill them for use. The preparation of said plans and lists is the work now in hand for the writer. Their accomplishment depends not solely upon “ the rich men of the country.” All the people can contribute with individual gifts of objects from values of $5 to $50,000. In the Halls of the Ancients is placed a superb copy of Vasi’s plan of Rome, 6 by 3)4 feet, 1765. It was purchased for £2 at auction in London for the Galleries by a book-dealer — friend of the writer — with just the above amount ($10) sent by the widow of a Boston clergyman “ to buy something for the Galleries." With other gifts it is held in trust for the 1 See addenda No. 4. GALLERIES TO BE CONSTRUCTED AND FILLED BY GIFTS. 131 coming National Galleries of the United States, framed under glass at more than the cost of the plate. The descriptive Handbook of the supposed Galleries complete will give opportunities for memorials in perpetuum of patriotic liberality. One can give a cast for $5 to $50; engravings, photographs up to one of the Pinelli series, 10 by 7 feet, such as is sampled (V., p. — ), at $150. A donor can construct a temple, a cloister, or a house, or give models thereof, at all ranges of cost, or build 100 feet of gallery complete at from $50,000 to $75,000. Artists can give paintings upon subjects prescribed, sculptors and formatori can give plastic reliefs, archi- tectural models, etc., receiving legiti- mate publicity of their liberality and genius. All constructions and objects would bear conspicuously forever the name of the donor, who would also be per- petually commemorated in the annual catalogues. The Catalogue of the British Mu- seum constantly rehearses the ‘ 1 List of Benefactors,” beginning with 1753: Sir John Cotton, Bart., ‘‘The collection of Manuscripts and Charters formed by his grandfather.” It includes mention of single articles, as — 1885, Lord Hillingdon, marble figure of a Bull from Athens; 1885, T. A. E. Addington, esq., a large collection of rubbings from English monumental brasses; and, also, 1879, William White, esq. (by bequest), ,£65,411 for building a Gallery for the Mauso- leum Sculptures. The Marquise Vis- count Arconati has lately willed to the Louvre and Cluny Museums $1,600,000, the interest to be expended for works of art. This is only one of many recent gifts made in republican France, the greatest being that of the park, palace, and art treasures of Chantilly, by the Count de Paris. I am eager to follow these suggestions by a first appropriation to the Galleries of a manuscript portion .of the Bible in Latin of the fourteenth century, bound in wood with heavy chain attached; such Bibles, chained No. 102. — From Raphael’s decorations of the Loggia of the Vatican. 132 GIFTS TO THE GALLERIES. to posts, were read in the dark ages; secondly, of the models above mentioned, and thirdly, of 1,000 interesting historic and architectural engravings. These shall include, first, the grand restorations of the Forum by Cockerill and Canina, which gave the conception of the terraced galleries; also a rare series from copper of Mercante’s copies from the Baths of Titus, from which Raphael drew, to a great extent, his designs for the Loggia of the Vatican. Supplementing these shall be the superb plates from copper published by Popes Clement XIII and XIV, covering 200 square feet of engraving, showing all the details of the Loggia by Raphael and his pupils No. 103.— Ceiling from Mercante’s decorations of the Baths of Titus, Rome, 1774. — a work of rarity and value. Also Roman engravings of Rossini and Piranesi, including the latter’s Magnificentia Romanorum. Pinelli’s Istoria Romana, above described, awaits opportunity of use, in transfer to the walls of the Roman gallery as the first historical series. In contrast to these will be the luxurious “ Coronation of George IV.” It includes a series of portraits in gorgeous costumes of the nobility of England. Guizot has defined civilization as ‘‘the grand emporium of the people, in which all the wealth, all the elements of its life are stored up; some- thing for nations to transmit from age to age.” Such civilization demands that the people who will soon commemorate an era preeminent in human progress, and the natal fact of its existence, CONCLUSION. 133 should mark the event by a national memorial — in magnificence unsur- passed, in practical usefulness unequaled. 1 Consider its moral grandeur ! In the philosophy of history it is an epoch — at once the midway halt and the new, hopeful starting point of the human race ; the lifting of the gates of the West for exit of crowded and contentious nations to another hemisphere for their expansion and development. It opened a vista of infinitely greater intellectual than material progress. Freed from bondage, with a printing press for universal and immortal utterance, the mind of man was to germinate in thought and magnify in power for the continuous elevation of humanity. The institution will have thus a memorable and appropriate origin. It will mark the second century of the Republic as passing onward toward nobler aims than mere financial and material aggregation ; its entrance upon a purer, happier, reflective life, that will calm the unrest that now incites to anarchy. The writer believes that if the enterprise above set forth shall become a reality it will promote such progress ; and will perpetuate from gener- ation to generation the richest moral, mental, social, and political eleva- tion of the people. If its prosecution may not be as rapid as appears to him practicable, he may at least have incited a primary motion toward an ultimate evolu- tion. Seventy years ago, the minister of a quiet country parish in Massa- chusetts made a Fourth of July oration, with the following exordium : Doubtless each mote that floats in the atmosphere does its part toward the main- tenance of the balance of creation. It may be, therefore, that the effort of this occasion, despite the insignificance of the speaker, but considering the greatness of the theme, may not be wholly lost. I. conclusion, it is hoped that an intense interest for the realization of this conception will induce a kindly judgment of the personal prominence that was inevitable for its full presentation. Suggestions in improvement will be welcomed. Franklin Webster Smith. ■The Columbian Exposition— the centennial celebration of 1900, commemorat- ing the establishment of Washington as the Capital, is an occasion equally appropri- ate for these reflections. 134 CONCLUSION. Note. — “The study of the ancient architectural remains of Central America,” says Fergusson, “is the only means we know of by which the ancient history of the country' can be recovered from the darkness which now enshrouds it, and the con- nection of the Old World with the New — if any existed — can be traced.” No. 104.— Elevation of part of palace at Zayi, Yucatan. No. 105.— Elevation of Teocalli (mound for sacrifice) at Palenque. Yucatan. The Smithsonian Institution has prosecuted scientific investigation of this im- portant subject, especially in its relation to American ethnology, and the National Museum has extensive collections of American archaeological material waiting space for exhibition. Therefore, in the above rdsumd, this field has had only brief consideration. ADDENDA. No. i. The National Galleries of the A mcrican Republic , it is proposed , shall sur- pass in architectural gra?ideur all similar constructions (p. 42}. The constructions represented in the design probably cover a larger area than any previous group of buildings for a special use, and although their cost will be less than that of several palaces, Oriental and European (if built of concrete), their architectural effect will never have been equalled. “The palace temple of Karnak,” says Fergusson, “is probably the grandest effort for architectural magnificence ever produced by the hand of man.” Its area was 1,200 feet by 360 feet, about 10 acres; but a large portion of this was uncovered by buildings. Its great hypostyle hall is internally 340 feet by 170 feet, or 88,000 square feet. The Moorish palace of Zalira, near Cordova, described, it is believed reliably, by Moorish writers, inclosed an area of 4,000 feet by 2,200 feet; but the greater part of this was in gardens. It had 4,300 columns. The Escurial, usually considered the largest of such constructions since its date, covers 740 feet by 580 feet externally, or nearly 10 acres; but there are interior open courts. The main building is of six stories, so that its acreage of flooring is immense, far surpassing that of the pro- posed galleries. In architectural effect it expresses the repulsive and obdurate traits of its tyrant projector, who purposed it to be a religious symbol of the gridiron of St. Lawrence. No. 2. The genius of art adapted to this age can not be more clearly set forth than in the comments of M. Phillipe Gille on the exhibit of the late French Fxposition (p. 7/). “ The taste for art is, in these days, merely one branch of universal curiosity. In the eyes of the thoughtful public, a fgure or a picture , a statue or a group , has gradually lost its subjective interest , which has become secondary to its value as an ethnological o> historical record." Upon reflection it may be seen that nature offers utmost range of senti- ment under commonplace names of her creatures or the scientific divisions of her realm. i35 136 ADDENDA. Michelet has invested ‘ ‘ The Bird ’ ’ with such poetry of life, both in description and delineation, that whoever has read his facinating pages, illumined by the art of Giacomelli, almost recognizes henceforth the bird No. 106. — Giacotnelli’s illustrations. No. 107. — Giaeomclli’s illustrations. upon the wing as the messenger of the fairies. He finds all human characteristics and impulses — courage, tenderness, energy, patience, dignity, selfishness, intelligence, cunning, love, revenge — in full play utility in art. 137 from within the soul or instinct of the feathered tribe. Hence the varied - power and beauty that he sees and portrays from their daily life — the eagle upon the mountain top challenging with fixed eye the blaze of the rising sun; the humming bird, flitting from flower to flower; the vulture of the desert, and the tender cooing of the dove. Thus, too, Chateau- briand, as he nestles the wild duck under the mossy bank, by the rippling stream, screened in her retreat by the drapery of the waving vines hung on ‘ ‘ her distaffs of purple reeds. ’ ’ But if there should be assigned to decorative artists illustrations of ornithology, the scientific exhibit, in deathly stiffness, would appall artistic sensibilities. But let us imagine a ceiling or a wall devoted to classification of the birds of the United States of America. It is divided for skies of different hues, in accord with regions of varied landscape beneath. In these sections are portrayed truthfully their varied haunts. These would present the widest contrasts in nature : The mountain top; the ocean shore; forests of oak and pine; jungles of the palmetto and magnolia; fruits and flowers of the North and South; the rustic covert of the partridge; the shallow lakelet of the heron. What could be more faci- nating to the eye than ‘ ‘ The Bird ’ ’ painted in life and airy motion in the verdant or wild surroundings that nature has fitted for its Paradise? In the villa of Diomed at Pompeii there remains on the walls of the bathroom a decoration of fish disporting in the depths of the sea. It attracts especial admiration in the reproduction at Saratoga and has been noted for many repetitions. It is a hint in the line of these suggestions. The birds and fish of America might thus be displayed systematically for study as well as ornament with greater beauty and at less cost than in aquaria. A con- tinuous series would be more superb decorations for galleries than the usual obscure allegories attempted by high art of flaunting undraped goddesses, with sportive tritons and centaurs, demanding printed expla- nations to reveal the mystical conceptions of their creation. I would that the grand surfaces of the Congressional Library had been thus utilized for portrayal of facts in the progress of knowledge than for airy imaginations. Again, I imagine an assignment to artists for prize competitions in Cartoons of the Latitudes of the United States for the National Galleries. What scope, what contrast, what grandeur, what beauty, what titanic strength, what utmost attenuity, what icy death pulses, what rampant verdue, would be covered under this dry geographical title given as a theme to sensitive artists. When they began their travels for the various regions for a congenial theme, they would realize that the commission offered them the range of the world for material in composition. 1 3« ADDENDA. The glaciers of Alaska; the peaks and ranges of the Rocky Moun- tains; the canyons of the Nevadas; the geysers of the Yellowstone; the plains of Kansas; the cataract of Niagara; the hills of the Adirondacks; the valleys of the Mohawk; the forests of pine at the North, of oaks at the South; the farms of varied culture of New England; the cotton and rice plantations of Louisiana; from the apple tree to the palm tree; the home of the seal on the ice float to the haunt of the chameleon in thickets of perpetual summer — All this may be realistic and truthful in illustration of the wonders of our domain, and yet .challenge all the fancy and poetry of an artist soul. It may be said that these are merely the past and present universal subjects of art. This is true, with a difference; the difference is in their orderly and illustrative combination. The plea is for art to be applied in aid of the universal curiosity “of the thoughtful public in these days ; a spirit of inquiry, the true inspiration to learning. Our flight with the birds was an apparent diversion from the utilitari- anism set forth as the basis for the educational institution. On the contrary, it illustrates that national galleries of painting in progressive illustration of history, of American development or natural resources, for instruction primarily rather than beauty, may cover themes for highest inspiration in art. Galleries of paintings thus described plainly can not be of that high ex- ecution demanded (but rarely obtained) for dilettanti in art. They need not cost like the paintings within the Domeof the Capitol; an apotheosis of Washington, $39,500, which is 205 feet from the pavement, almost beyond visual interpretation; or the eight very interesting historical panels — en- joyed by all visitors — which cost from $10,000 to $15,000 apiece. These are very large— 18 feet by 12 feet — 216 squarefeet. For a series, 6 by 9 feet, or 54 square feet, would suffice. While there is not this dispro- portion in the cost of smaller canvases, still there would be but one- fourth of the manipulation, and compositions would be less crowded with figures. There is at present a class of artists in Europe, German and French, most skillful in precisely the style of work demanded. They have won highest honors as exhibitors at salons. The powerful execution of the series above mentioned, of the “ Triumph of Constantine,” proves their ability. They have illustrated Bavarian history on the walls of their national museum. They have redecorated with great spirit and beauty the restored halls of the Wartburg. The work of Pascal, of Paris, in the Pompeia, is an appropriate illustration of this style. Few would be so hypercritical as to say that such illustrations are not satis- factory and allowable for instructive representation.' They are accepted for such use throughout Germany and France — centers of art criticism. The masses who in America are to enjoy them do not yet comprehend chiaro-scuro or identify pre-Raphaelitism; but given one decade of influ- utility in art. 139 ence from the National Galleries, with ample resources, and a more gen- eral familiarity with technicalities of art will lie proof of its educational power. For high art the Corcoran and other select and costly col- lections will supply examples. There are in this country at present foreign artists of great ability and experience in the style of work demanded for national galleries of illus- tration, who could be admirable preceptors for American students. The Germans and French to-day revel in art, and at an average of excellence. When 20,000 pictures are offered to the French Salon, and 6,000 found annually worthy of display, it proves that pictures average there less than the prices demanded in the United States. This argument may be disparaged as a cheapening of artistic talent. It should not be so considered, for in the true mercantile relation (and that is the practical question) it favors ultimately the talent involved. Prices for art work have risen to a factitious extent from the exagger- ated figures obtained for famous deceased masters; but excessive prices for works of a practical character and meritorious but not superlative worth check the demand. In failure to receive the costliest appreciation, artists are discouraged and discontented. It will be of invaluable sendee to them when a national demand shall develop employment, because of the interest and popularity of its subjects. When the galleries have received their series, illuminating the respec- tive historical cycles, very many artists will be employed upon copies for other institutions that will multiply throughout the country. Other topics than political history, art, and architecture maybe cited, of great interest to the people, that should be thus connectedly, picto- rially, and objectively illustrated. A hall might contain The Story of the Book. 1 The paintings in series would commence with the initial efforts of man to record his mental action to the eye. They would exhibit the various material devised to receive the divers symbols and letters of the human race. Far backward would appear the papyri of Egypt, now freely reproduced in facsimile by the Louvre in Paris. The parchments and tablets of the Romans, the palm-leaf books of the East Indians, would be intermediate to the appearance of the printed books. At this point will be recalled the Plantin Museum at Antwerp, in extent and interest unrivaled at present for the orderly revelation of the arts of printing and engraving, down to the present wonderful development of lithog- raphy in colors and photogravure. All this could be quickly com- manded if money, not to a great amount, was provided. The Story of the Plow; or, Progress in Productions for the Sub- 1 This conception has been since fancifully attempted in allegory in the new Library. The people would enjoy more pictures telling the stories so “that he that runneth might read.” 140 ADDENDA. sisteuce of Man, would furnish a varied, beautiful, and attractive series of pictorial instruction. Beginning with the crooked-root plow and the herds of the patriarchal age, it would end with transcripts of agricultural scenes with the magical appliances of American invention, which by commercial intercourse are multiplying and distributing food products throughout the world. No. 3. The annexed gratifying response from a scholarly friend, an ardent student of classic art and Egyptology in their ancient domains, suggests a brilliant and beautiful effect upon the Partheuonic temples: Milwaukee, June 16 , 1891. The proof sheets were of the greatest interest. The style of architecture is, in my opinion, the only one for so grand an institution. A great dome in the center would not so readily convey the meaning of the institution. It is very beautiful that, in reverence, the true masterpiece of architecture should dominate your grand monument to culture, as from the Acropolis learning, like the rays of the sun, was spread over the earth. The grandeur of the contour of the Greek temple upon a height will contrast superbly against the blue sky. The latest researches have revealed that the tinting of marble walls and pillars, the gilding of capitals and groups in pediments of temples, were common practices of the Greeks. The French have discovered that some of their greatest treasures of antique sculpture were tinted. A friend of mine, Professor Otto, of Berlin, has made a beautiful marble piece — the Greek Slave— which is tinted, and has been accepted and now stands in the National Gallery of Berlin. A reproduction of color of your grand temples in light tints, and the gilding of the capitals, as lately successfully accomplished in the Sina Academy or National Pantheon at Athens, would greatly add to the grandeur of the whole. Yours, most truly, Ferdinand Meinecke. No. 4. “I believe that if a section of the Egyptian and Roman Courts and Gal- leries can be built with the illustrations proposed , the rich men of the country will rapidly co7nplete the series” (./>. fjo). — Senator Hawley. The fascination of such systematic and complete object lessons from his- tory, especially with the present stimulus to a higher general education, 1 can be with difficulty imagined. Their efficiency would depend largely upon the tact as well as the talent of the professors who should have in charge their elucidation. They should have an enthusiasm for their work, 'There is something intensely pathetic in the hunger for culture of tens of thou- sands of Americans, in summer schools all over the land, sitting patiently absorbing wisdom in hot weather from lectures on ethics and literature and science, etc. — Boston Transcript, July, 1891. OBJECT LESSONS IN THE GALLERIES. 141 growing in sympathy with eager comers, and attracting the indifferent to the delights of knowledge. The realism should be made as vivid as possible. Intelligent visitors to the Pompeia have frequently advised that attend- ants should be iu costume . 1 A lover of the classics, with whom Seneca is a daily companion, desires that it shall be occupied by Italians, who, in old Roman garb, shall move through its halls and recline at times on the couches of the triclinium. At first the idea savored of the theatrical, but reflection is in favor of its expediency. The stage is claimed as an educational instrumentality for its presentations of ancient life. The surroundings herein proposed would far exceed in force and truthfulness the passing trivial effects of the modern stage, that must be seasoned with incongruous ballet. Given a range of effective paintings of Roman development, grandeur, and decay; adjacent a temple and the grand house of a senator, peopled with accurate impersonations of ancient occupants; these surrounded by other reconstructions illustrative of the genius and power which wrought No. 108. — Scenes in the Forum in the days of Marcus Aurelius. DIO CASSIUS, 71, 32. CAPITOLINU8, MARCUS, 26. DIO CASSIUS, 71, 32. their prototypes; through and among these halls and structures will pass crowds 3 — excursions of teachers and students from East, West, North, and South. With illustrated text-books in hand, they follow a professor enlightening the incidents illustrated and drawing therefrom deductions of political and moral philosophy. I presuppose this professor to be a rare man, grand in physique, able in knowledge, energetic and benevolent in impulse, of utterance effective with unction, not monotonous in the castanet tones of a showman. Robed in the inimitably graceful folds of the toga, he leads the crowd of eager listeners at length to the rostra. From its platform he tells them that on such a standing place were debated the conquests and crises of the Roman Empire and Republic. •During the ownership by Prince Napoleon of the chateau in Paris (misnamed Pompeian, as it was Pompeian only in its decorations) the troupe of the Theatre Frai^ais reproduced Roman tableaux in the atrium before the Emperor Napoleon. The scene was perpetuated by an engraving, with an enthusiastic description by Gautier. He wrote in opening, “Antiquity is the eternal source of youth of the human soul;” and in closing, “That nocturnal fete was the horizon opened upon the past, the eloquent history of departed worlds.” * Fair teachers at the White House.— The public reception of the President yester- day was attended by 2,000 people, principally school-teachers from New York. New Jersey, and the New England States, on an excursion to Washington. The scene in the great East Room was animated. The President shook each visitor by the hand. — Washington Post, January 1, 1891. I 42 ADDENDA. In sonorous Latin he quotes from Cicero against Catiline, and then translates to his hearers the magnificent patriotism and dignity of the oration: Long since, oh Catiline! ought the Consul to have doomed thy life a forfeit to thy country. * * * There was — there was a time, when such was the spirit of Rome that the resentment of her magnanimous sons more sternly crushed the Roman traitor than the most inveterate enemy. Again, I follow a Greek professor through the Grecian galleries and courts. He talks before paintings of Marathon, of Thermopylae, of the Acropolis. He courses with his hearers the colonnades of the agora to the Senate House. He is a native Greek, a splendid scholar, a naturalized American citi- zen. His garb exhibits the amictus, the chiton, the tunica, and the graceful chalmys. 1 Proud of the name of his race as that of Pericles, of Socrates, and Plato, he tells his hearers that in halls of such form the Greeks of old listened to their orators. In his native mellifluous tongue he recites — DEMOSTHENES AGAINST THE CROWN. Athens was never known to live in a slavish though secure obedience to unjust and arbitrary power. No! our whole history is one series of noble contests for pre- eminence. * * * No, my countrymen! it can not be you have acted wrong in encountering danger bravely for the liberty and safety of all Greece. * * * No! by all those illustri- ous sons of Athens whose remains lie deposited in the public monuments. Lord Bolingbroke quotes Dionysius, of Halicarnassus, that “History is philosophy teaching by examples.” When philosophy is seated at the National Capital, drawing from history such stimulating examples from the past, the youth of the Republic will be advanced toward the noblest patriotism. The Convent of La Rabida was reconstructed at Chicago upon the suggestion of the author of this prospectus, and the Columbian paintings above mentioned were purchased by the United States, exhibited in the court and chapel of the convent. Afterward they were assigned to the Field Museum of Chicago. (See illustration of Convent, Part III.) In 1889 the writer selected in Spain photographs of thirteen paint- ings scattered in various galleries, illustrative of the history of the enterprise of Columbus. In Paris he commissioned two painters of recognized ability, who for several years had exhibited at the Salon — Pas- cal for scenery and accessories, and Bernard for figures and portraits — to copy these photographs on large canvases. Unfortunately, Bernard was summoned to the army and his work was incomplete. The drawing of the originals was precisely followed, although in two or three of the num- 1 On the bronze Apollo of the British Museum the chalmys (scarf) hangs gracefully from the arm. OBJECT LESSONS IN THE GALLERIES. H3 No. 109.— Court of the Moorish Villa Zorayda, with Alhambresque tracery. i 4 4 ADDENDA. ber it was crude. Yet the series as a whole was interesting and instruc- tive, because historical; in part contemporaneous and illustrative. The annexed plates indicate the facility with which sections of the Alhambra could be reconstructed in all the splendor of arabesques bla- zoned in red, blue, and gold, with their oriental accessories of fountains No. no. — Court in Villa Zorayda, St. Augustine. and flowers, palms and pomegranates. Therein Americans might read in thrilling reality Irving’s sketch of Columbus, “taking his modest stand in a remote corner, the humble and neglected spectator of the pageant ’ ’ of the thanksgiving mass of Ferdinand and Isabella and their conquering host, flaunting in triumph their crosses and croziers, with OBJECT LESSONS IN THE GALLERIES. 145 proud armorial ensigns and banners, in the Moslem halls. Despite the repulse of his appeal to the sovereigns in camps before Granada, the enthusiast dreamed of a conquest before which the capture of the Moor- ish stronghold should shrink to insignificance. Again, in imagination, we enter the restored Saracenic court. Its No. in. Court of Villa 7x)rayda, St. Augustine. colonnades of light and graceful arches are enlaced in endless intricacy, yet without one hint of form from nature — obediently to the Koran — to make no imitation of the works of the Creator. It is midday, and the muezzin is called in Arabic from the minaret. Standing in the simulated pulpit of the Mosque of Cordova or in the S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 2 10 No. 112. — Court of Villa Zorayda, St. Augustine. in butchery or the imbecility of nothingness, day dreams of houris in the Maliommedan paradise, a crisis only comparable to that of victory by the Spanish Armada, which would have eclipsed in darkness the renais- sance of the human intellect. This realism of historical facts would incite inquiry. Curiosity, keenest 146 ADDENDA. court of the Alhambra, a lecturer sketches the rise of Islamism upon the plains of Arabia, “a little cloud like a man’s hand;” its outburst into a cyclonic deluge of turbaned Turks that swept across Africa into Spain and scaled the Pyrenees to the critical field of Poitiers. There the sword of Charles Martel saved the ancestry of modern Europe from extinction OBJECT LESSONS IN THE GALLERIES. 147 stimulant of knowledge, would impatiently follow Islamism along the centuries. In the Mediaeval galleries students would join the crusaders before Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus. They would eagerly study before the pictured surrender of Granada and the last stand of the Moors at Malaga before their final merciless expulsion from Europe. No. 1 13. — Court in Villa Zorayda, St. Augustine. Such instruction, interest, and beauty the nation can speedily prepare in grand measure for itself and for posterity. Science, capital, energj r , inventive skill, have for a century been lavished upon material development. Their creations are transcontinental railroads, factories, mines; moun- 148 THE ALHAMBRA. No. 114.— Court of Lions. Alhambra. ADDENDA. No. 118. — The Convent of La Rabida. At its gate Columbus begged for bread and made the friend- ship of the monk Marchena. ers, palaces for business, palaces for hotels, palaces for private luxury and display. Now, may not a small fraction of this wealth be devoted with like ability and ingenuity to national temples of knowledge? 150 tains have been scaled, rivers have been spanned. A tunnel of the Hudson, at an estimate of $50,000,000, excites no surprise as chimerical. It is one of others competing for the use of idle capital in scores of mil- No. 117. — Section of the Court of the Lions in the Alhambra. lions; a canal through the southern isthmus, another uniting the lakes and the Mississippi, etc. Surplus gains are now lavished upon Babel-like structures for bank- SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE. 151 The previous Saracenic illustrations have been added in hope that they may attract some possessor of abounding wealth to the delightful sendee for his countrymen that is in his power to enjoy, viz: To offer a reconstruction in the Saracenic court of the Court of the Lions in the Alhambra (vide Fig. 31, p. 49, Part II), in full size, plated with casts from the original traceries — when a site shall have been pro- vided. This would by no means be as expensive as would appear at first thought. It is generally supposed that the traceries are in marble. They are in plaster, and are yet perfect after six hundred years. When commenced the two small halls of the Abencerrages and of The Two Sisters would surely follow. It is a pleasant daydream to the writer that he may l>e invited to the supervision of the delightful task. Then would be set up in the center of the restored Court of the Lions a column bearing the name of the Mr. Goodman, the donor, “as a lover of his country.” No. 1 19. — Restoration of the Courtof Bensaquiu, Tangiers, in the Halls of the Ancients, Washington. No. 120. — Byzantine Portal. Henry Ives Cobb, architect. No. 5. The educational value of models of architectural examples. All noble ornamentation is the expression of man’s delight in God’s work. — The Virtues of Architecture. Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it. All minds quote. Old and new make the warp and woof of every moment. We quote not only hooks and proverbs, but arts, customs, and laws; nay, we quote temples and houses, tables and chairs, by imitation. If we learn how old are the patterns of our shawls, the capitals of our columns, the fret, the beads, and other ornaments on our walls, the alternate lotus-bud and leaf stem of our iron fences, we shall think very well of our first men or ill of the latest. It is inevitable that you are indebted to the past; you are fed and formed by it. The old forest is decomposed for the composition of the new forest. So it is in thought. Our knowledge is the amassed thought and experience of innumerable minds. We can not overstate our debt to the past, but the moment has the supreme claim. As Goethe frankly said : “ What would remain to me if the art of appropriation were derogatory to genius? “Everyone of my writings has been furnished to me by a thousand different persons, a thousand things; wise and foolish have brought me, without suspecting it, the offering of their thoughts, faculties, and experience. “ My^ work is an aggregation of beings taken from the whole of nature, it bearing the name of Goethe.’’ — Emerson. 152 ARCHITECTURAL MODELS. 153 For “ the diffusion of knowledge” by the grand works hereinbefore proposed, models of architectural constructions complete, as also of fragmentary specimens, are of superlative importance. They are vivid object lessons of outlines, forms, proportions — details practical and orna- mental of the masterpieces of human accomplishment. No. 121. — Model of Hall of Darius, Louvre. No picture of perspective equals for comprehension with preciseness the presentation of an object in solid substance. The child’s house of blocks is far more to his satisfaction than the brightest picture of it. It No. 122. — Model of Pantheon, New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Charles Chipiez, Paris. moves two senses — both sight and touch. The same satisfaction from material illustrations passes onward to youth and maturity. A while since the writer passed a delightful afternoon in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in company with an inquiring boy and his parents. 154 No. 123.— The Hall of One Hundred Columns, Persepolis. l' landin & Coste, Perse Auden. Art in Persia, Perrot & Chipiez. 155 No. 124. — The Hall of One Hundred Columns, Persepolis. Plandin & Coste, Perse Ancien. Art in Persia, Perrot & Chipiez. ADDENDA. 156 He enticed them from object to object after his interest had lieen roused by satisfaction of his eagerness to have an explanation of a model of the Acropolis. The value of models in exactness of scale and finish is recognized in modern museums. Their service for rendering the visual effect of architectural drawings materialized is now a common requirement of architects for extensive constructions. The following details are added concerning models now in existence of ancient monuments, in earnest hope that they may incite gifts of duplicates to the National Galleries of Washington, which probably can be had at a fraction of the cost of originals. No objects can more permanently and beautifully perpetuate the name of a donor. Subjects can be selected for cost at pleasure. Those now in New York and Washington (annexed Figs. 12 1 and 126) surpass all that are in Europe. The Louvre exhibits but one, that of the Hall of Darius. (Fig. 120.) A model of the Hall of One Hundred Columns (Figs. 122-123) would far surpass that in the Louvre. It would lie a noble and self-rewarding gift to the National Galleries. The Willard bequest to the Metropolitan Museum in New York for models of famous buildings has been of great public interest and benefit. Those already purchased rival for general attraction any other treasures of the museum. Fig. 121 is a photograph of the superb model of the Parthenon, executed under direction of Mr. Charles Chipiez at a cost of 48,000 francs. Delivered in New York, it cost more than $10,000. It was a wise expenditure. Sculptures of the pediment and all the bronze statuary that crowded the entablature of the horizontal facade are exquisitely restored. Certainly no previous attempt to realistically illustrate the original splendor of this monument, “spared and blest by time” beyond all oth- ers of man’s handiwork, can compare with his models of the Parthenon and of the Pantheon. Mr. Le Brim, agent of the Willard Architectural Commission, has kindly furnished the annexed list of models purchased to date: * Fig. 124 is a topographical model, with reproduction of streets and buildings in detail. ‘Willard Architectural Commission, No. 1 Madison Avenue, New York City , N. May /, 1900. Mr. Franklin W. Smith, Washington , D. C. DEAR Sir: Replying to j our favor of the 26th of April, the following models now in the Willard collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art were made to order for the Willard Commission: 1. Parthenon: Scale, one-twentieth full size; cost, 14,500 francs; Charles Chipiez, ARCHITECTURAL MODELS. 157 Fig. 125 is a photograph of a section of the great model of the design for National Galleries in the Halls of the Ancients, covering an area of 20 by 40 feet. (See page 66. Part I.) In the foreground is seen an admir- No. 125. — Cast of the doorway of the Cathedral of San Diego da Compostella in Spain, in the South Kensington Museum, Loudon. (V, Part I.) able model of the Temple of Denderah, by M. Garet. It is 8 feet architect, restorer; Adolphus Joly, Paris, modeler. Size cf model, 5 feet wide by 15 feet long hy 3 feet 3 inches high. 2. Pantheon: Scale, one-twentieth full size; cost, 4S, 000 francs; Charles Chipiez, architect, restorer; Abel Poulin, Paris, modeler. Size of model, 11 feet wide by 15 feet long by 7 feet 8 inches high. 3. Hypostyle, Hall of Karnac (central portion): One-twentietli full size; Charles Chipiez, architect, restorer; Maspero hieroglyphs. Cost, 22,500 francs. 4. Arch of Constantine: One-tenth full size; cost, 12,000 francs; Mercatali, Rome, modeler; Trabacchi and Cencetti, sculptors; Lanciani, director of work. 5. Clioragic Monument of Lysicrates: One-tenth full size; Herr Iesen, Munich, sculptor; cost of molds, 400 marks. 6. St. Irophime, Arles, France; main entrance: Scale, one-twentieth full size; cost, 3,Soo francs. 7. Cathedral Notre Dame, Paris: One-twentieth full size; cost, 57,500 francs. 8. Knockenliauer Amthaus, Hildesheim: One-tenth full size; cost, 1,350 marks; Professor Kusthardt, modeler. Hoping this fully answers your questions, I am, Very truly, yours, P. L. Le Brun, Purchasing Agent. No. 126.-MODEL OF A SECTION OF THE TOWN OF WITTENBERG. 158 1. Luther’s house in the old Augustinian cloister. modeled by f. w. smith. 1852. 2. The University in which Melanclithon was professor. “And what make you from Wittenberg?” Shak. Hamlet. The house of Melanchthon. 4. The Electoral Castle: In the church are buried Luther and Melanchthon. On its doors Luther nailed his theses for disputation. Public square. 6. Rathhaus — Town Hall in market place. Luther’s monument. 7. Parochial church, in which Luther commonly preached. ntWHimKH;;: No. 127. — Section of the entire model for National Galleries in Halls of the Ancients. In the foreground model of the Temple of Denderah, to scale, 8 feet in length. Area in front is for the Egyptian Court. See Frontispiece, The Acropolis, at the rear, with drawings for American Galleries. l6o ADDENDA. in length, one sixty-fourth scale of the size proposed for the courts (500 feet square). I11 the distance are models of the three Parthenonic temples, modeled by Sig. Giordani. These are the only sections in full model yet 1 lade of the Galleries and Courts. The other courts are shown by mounted drawings. The cost thus far has been $1,500. To complete the entire model would cost about $3,000. Coloring would add greatly to the effect, at an expense, say, of $500. No. 128.— Model of llie I’agoda of Wat Chang (meaning “great monastery”) in Bangkok. Siam. May this writing be so fortunate as to enlist the liberality of a friend of his countrymen, now and of the future, by a gift for completion of the model. It can be held in ownership of the donor until a hall shall be provided in National Galleries for its reception, being meanwhile on exhibition, as is the incomplete pattern at present. As a prototype of the reality which it prefigures, it would as far surpass all existing archi- tectural models as will that reality, when a fact, be without a semblance in the world for comparison. In 1891 the writer stood with the late Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen before the full-size cast of the Doorway of the Cathedral of San Diego da C0111- J ARCHITECTURAL CASTS. l6l postella, in Spain, which covers the end wall of the largest exhibition hall of casts in the Kensington Museum, in London. (See Fig. 126.) Other objects crowded upon it so that it could be seen only at a dis- tance of 10 or 20 feet. The cast was about 30 by 40 feet. “What a pity,” was remarked 1 to Sir Philip, “that it can not be fairly seen! For our new National' Galleries we propose to have halls of 500 feet range.” “Yes,” he replied, “you Americans, beginning anew, can have everything. You can take space. In the heart of European No. 129. — A restoration of Olympia, by Thierisch. An ideal plati for the court of the Greek Galleries. capitals now it is an impossibility. Casts are cheap and with molds now in existence you can have everything. That cast cost us ,£2,000 = $10,000. Had your institution been in existence, we could have shared for two at about the same money.” I11 the future models may be duplicated for New York and Washing- ton at half price or less. By and by, when their value shall be appre- ciated, they will be demanded in other large cities. - Illustrations of subjects for models are here presented as temptations for the choice of liberal lovers of the grandly beautiful in gifts to the S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 2 11 SUBJECT FOB Til BEE MODELS. Is'o. 130. — The Palace of Sennacherib, exterior; restoration by Cayard. Copy by Pascal (10 by 7 feet) is in the Assyrian Throne Room, Halls of the Ancients. No. 131. — Restoration of court of an Assyrian palace, Fergusson. A model design for the National Gallery and Court. ASSYRIAN COURT 163 DESIGN FOR RECONSTRUCTION. ADDENDA. 164 National Galleries. Notice the noble provision made for them .in the corridors that range the galleries of paintings (Fig. 24 and Fig. 26, Part II) for models and all plastic illustrations. Who will seize the chance to offer first a model of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (p. 49, Part II), or of the Lantern of Burgos (p. 99, Part II), unmatched in the world for richness of decoration, its piers pre- senting full tableaux in marble? Fig. 129 presents three sections of Assyrian restoration bv Layard, each of which would make a beautiful model, though varied in cost. Color would greatly enhance their beauty, as may be seen in the painting (10 by 7 feet) of the Palace of Sennacherib in the Halls of the Ancients. Fig. 128 would be impressive as both a topographical and architectural simulation. Fig. 127 is one of the two only models of Old World architecture in the National Museum ; one a model of a Temple Tower of Babylon. The second is small, 3 by 3 feet, largely of paper, too minute in detail to make them discernible. It is a model of Wat Chang, the most magnificent Temple in Bangkok. Its picture may remind readers of this mention of it, when traveling in the East, to buy for their country others on a larger scale. Such work is cheap in India. Who will seize the chance to present a model of the standard size suggested, 8 feet in length, of the Taj Mahal to their country? Such gifts in advance would be most opportune for the cause of the Galleries. They would require months of slow labor, as there are few competent for the work. The writer would gladly superintend it in the hands of competent artisans he has employed. Given in requirement of galleries to receive them, they would hasten their construction. No. 6. Paper in reference to facilities of reconstructions of ancient architecture and of reproduction of the appliances of ancient life supplied from attainments ' of mode rm archceology. The discovery of Herculaneum and Pompeii supplied chapters almost exhaustive to cyclopedia of Roman life and manners, as had previously l>eeu richly revealed of its art, architecture, and mythology by excava- tions in the imperial city. In the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries treasures recovered filled the vast halls of the Vatican. They supplied material for the monu- mental work of Montfaucon (L’Antiquite Expliquee, 10 volumes royal folio, Paris, 1722). In the eighteenth century these revelations were supplemented by constant additions from beneath the ashes of Vesuvius. Of late they are even in greater surprises of beauty and luxury. For Roman restorations, therefore, there is an embarrassment of riches. ■S. Nos. 132, 133, 134, 135. — Egyptian restorations from the trachten of Hottenroth. 1 • IT! ADDENDA. 1 66 During the last half century, and especially during the last thirty years, a zeal for discovery and investigation has been in rivalry by the scholarship of Germany, France, and England. It founded resident academies in Athens for exploration and study. Germany was rewarded by the richest prize — the Hermes of Praxiteles — from excavations of Olympia. France is following her example at Delplios and America at Corinth. Meanwhile Schliemann had uncovered golden treasures at Mycenae and the site designated as that of Troy. Not less energetic and successful have been explorations in Assyria and Egypt. From the data thus supplied savants have analyzed and summarized conclusions. German scholars, with the patient thorough- ness which is their characteristic, have added vastly within twenty-five years to knowledge of antiquity. Architects like Buhlmann and artists like Wagner, of Munich, have joined their abilities in panoramic recreation with wonderful effectiveness in their great work, “Rome in the time of Constantine.’’ Gloss, Thierrisch, and other German archaeologists, published “ Hellas and Rome,’’ a grand quarto, in reproduction of Roman and Greek art and life. While German scholars have wrought out details that give thou- sands of illustrations of the furni- ture, costumes, weapons, implements, etc. , in color of ancient nations, as in the exhaustive work, the Trachten of Hottenroth, the French Academy has given commissions, regardless of cost, for detailed reconstructions in color of monumental works of the Greeks and Romans. Fig. 130, one of the series of the restoration of the Baths of Diocle- tian, by Paulin, is a specimen of their splendor. This plate was a gift of Monsieur Firmin Didot, of Paris, the publisher. In Egypt, Belzoni, Lepsius, Champollion, have been followed by Mas- pero, Kbers, Mariette, Petrie, and others illuminating ruins of the dark tombs and temples. By modern pictorial facilities their outward forms and interior records are transferred to the universal page of modern times. The monumental works of this day in resuscitation of ancient art are those of Messieurs Perrot and Chipiez, of Paris. The rapidity with which their royal octavo volumes have appeared in Paris since 1883 — filled with critical histories of art in ancient Egypt, ARCHITECTURAL RECONSTRUCTIONS 167 SUBJECT FOR MODEL. I he pleasure derived from the execution or contemplation of a work of art arises partly from the mere love of imitation natural to all men. 1 he savage and the child delight in the most realistic imitations of the sights and sounds of external nature; and even in civilized communities, and among men of mature age, the untutored mind finds greater pleasure in a t/1 V o V 5 J > o x 33 X V a, o ^ k *33 o 7 $ l If o C o ^ rt 2 8,S V X “N • — « QJ 'V. Z "S o 5: * >3 u O CJ V 1 68 THE BATHS OF DIOCLETIAN— HOME. 169 No. 139. — An elevation from the Restoration of the Baths of Diocletian, by Paulin, under a commission from the French academy. 170 ADDENDA. Chaldea, and Assyria; Phrygia, Lydia, Coria, and Hysen; Sardinia and Judea; Syria and Asia Minor; Phoenicia, and lately of Greece — is an amazement of intellectual energy. Many other late contributions to archaeology may be cited; but these are sufficient to exhibit the abundance of material at hand — ready examples for the reconstructions proposed for national galleries in Washington. Moreover, these indefatigable scholars have supplied such exact details that they have filled the parts of architects in advance. They have given ground plans and elevations to scale, which wait only the plummet, scpiare, and triangle of the mechanic to commence the work. (Figs. 130, 131.) The annexed illustrations have been borrowed from these works in evidence of facilities awaiting public spirit to supply the means. [Extracts from the Report of the Committee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.] WHY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM NEW YORK SHOULD CONTAIN A FULL COLLECTION OF CASTS. [Statement published by the committee in March, 1891.] When the authorities of the Royal Museum at Berlin looked about for means to increase its sculptural and architectural collections, they found themselves unable to obtain any considerable number of original works of merit, because these were, for the most part, already in the possession of other museums. They therefore determined to obtain casts of all the masterpieces which were scattered in the different collections of the world, and to bring these together under such an arrangement as would l>est exemplify the progress of plastic art at all epochs. As a result of this policy, while there may be museums in Europe richer in original works of sculpture and architecture than the Museum of Berlin, there is certainly none of geater interest and utility to the student of art. The example set by Berlin has been followed by almost every great city of Europe. The South Kensington and Fitzwilliam museums, in England, and the museums of Strasburg, Dresden, Bonn, Vienna, Munich, and Nuremljerg, in Germany, all illustrate the extent of this movement. Nowhere, however, has the fundamental plan of such a collection been better initiated than in the museum recently established by the French Government in the Palace of the Trocadero at Paris, under the inspiration of M. Viollet le Due. It is the purpose of this collection, as stated by him, to show the relations existing between styles of art belonging to different historic epochs by casts selected from the best examples and carefully classified. The extent to which this purpose has been attained in French mediaeval and renaissance art during the brief period of nine years which has elapsed since the museum was opened furnishes an admirable illustration of what can be accomplished IIIIIH AN EGYPTIAN RESTORATION 171 SUBJECT FOR MODEL. No. 140. — Bird’s-eye view of an Egyptian villa. Restored by Charles Chipiez. f72 ADDENDA. DESIGN FOR RECONSTRUCTION. No. 141.— Gateway and boundary wall of a temple. Restored by Charles Chipiez. EGYPTIAN RESTORATION. 173 FOR RECONSTRUCTION OR MODEL. No. 142. — Thebes. Portico in the Temple of Medinet-Abou, second court. Restored by Charles Chipiez. 174 ADDENDA No. 143. — The Treasury of Atreus — Restored by Chipiez. ff- 7 ~ ^ w.j„ v QJi CZ^CyY^f ADDENDA. 175 in our own city with adequate means. Indeed, we need go no farther than New England for an example, where the Museum of Fine Arts at Boston is provided with a sculptural collection superior in arrangement and selection to any other similar collection in this country. The reasons which compelled the Berlin and other museums to look to casts for their scuptural and architectual collections apply with even greater force to our own museum. We can never expect to obtain any large collection of original works, but we can obtain casts, which, for students of art and archaeology, and indeed for the general public, are almost their equivalent; and these casts can be so arranged as to group together all works pertaining to the same epoch, however widely their originals may be separated, so that the whole history of plastic art can be traced through its masterpieces from the earliest to the latest time. A collection of casts thus furnishes the best means for studying the history of art. I11 it the archaeologist finds indispensable material for his studies; the artist, the most perfect productions of all styles and schools; and the general public, a sure means of forming taste and cultivating an enjoyment of the beautiful. If in connection with such a collection we follow the example of European museums and establish a molding atelier, in which repro- ductions can be made, the growing need of American museums and educational institutions in this particular can be supplied from New York instead of from Europe, as is now the case, with all the disadvan- tages of expense and delay. An ideal collection of casts would include all important works so arranged as to illustrate the historical develop- ment of art. An excellent beginning has already been made at the Metropolitan Museum in a collection of sculptural and in the Willard collection of architectural, casts. Only parts of these collections are now displayed. It is estimated that $100,000 will furnish the necessary means to give the museum, in connection with what it already possesses, a fairly com- plete historical collection of casts. Objects must be casts or copies. Originals remain forever in posses- sion of their first ownership. In Part II the figures of their cheapness are cited. (See pp. 82-83. ) To repeat a few items, the School of Fine Arts, Paris, has a catalogue for sale of 2,943 numbers. Statues, 4 feet 2 inches average 26 francs=$5.2o Bas-reliefs, 578, at average .40 francs= 8.00 Busts, average 9 francs= 1.80 Plus 60 per cent emballage. Parthenon sculptures cost the British Museum $175,000; Phrygian marble, in 1815, $95,000. Sixty bas-reliefs of Assyrian sculpture are 176 CHEAPNESS OF CASTS. offered for .£308 =$1 ,540, packed for shipment. Four specimens of them, 7 to 8 feet long, are in the Assyrian Tkrone Room, Halls of the Ancients. Brucciani, formatori of the museum, has a catalogue of 1,469 numbers, and the Louvre more of correspond' * ^ . s with above quotations. One hundred thousand dollarsfeufficed for an extensive outfit of casts for the New York Metropolitan ..xuseum of Art. Fig. 143 is from a photograph of 7 Greek. vases in the Halls erf the Ancients, arranged for ornamentation of schoolrooms, and also as models in art instruction. The central vase is the superb amphora from the British Museum, exquisite in form. Such beauty inspired Keats’s Ode to a Grecian Urn. The six smaller vases are molded exactly to the size and lines of the; originals in the splendid work of Genick (Griechische Keramik). No. 144. — Casts: Caryatides, Greek masks, Antefixa, etc. Models from the Paris School of Fine Arts, the Louvre, and British Museum, imported for the Pompeian House, Saratoga. The relief of the bracket is one of the most beautiful of the Greek friezes that have descended for standard use in classic architecture. Its symbolism is impressive — festivity in the festoon of fruits caught by ribbons to the wine cup, but conjoined with burned skulls from the sacrificial altar. The group illustrates the facility and cheapness with which the ate- lier of the future National Galleries can place before the youth of the nation all examples of artistic l>eauty spared from ancient to modern times. America will then follow examples of European nations in developing an artistic perception common to their people, but slightly manifested by Americans. 2 c M to ffj? 3-3 — 0 2 f- 0 M 3. - J- 5 E. O V) a* - c » p « 2 i 9 O s’ 5* tf *" S o ■ 2. 2 8 o a* * 8 8s S 5' J o 2 a* 2 8 I 2? o 5 _ 3 2 . & § * a* •* 2 - o a P' rT - 5 K> OQ ** -o ? o a* „ n 2» P 6 o 3 o 3. % a » w 3. 2 o MODELS OF GREEK FORMS FOR SCHOOLS. 1 7 8 No. 146.— Frontispiece (5 feet in length) of Sivelli’s vases, Candelabra, Cippi, etc., of the Vatican. Restoration by F. W. Smith, 1872. No. 147. — The Damascus Gate in the walls of Jerusalem. F. W. Smith, Dess. No. 148. — Chinese reconstructions. Boston, 1859. i8o ADDENDA. The innate relish of “the most realistic imitations of external sights, as common to all mankind, untutored and civilized, ’ ’ remarked by Professor Perry, is repeated here as the one conclusive argument for the reproduc- tions herein proposed for the people of the United States. Of late years object lessons to the eye largely supplement the printed text. Reproductions of ancient architecture date from the first world’s F. W. Smith, Dess., 1872. Nos. 149. — Dwellings of modern nations. Boston, 1872. fair, in Hyde Park in 1851, in the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Alham- bresque courts arranged by Owen Jones, since imperfectly transferred to Sydenham. From them the impulse for this enterprise was received. Confident of public attraction toward such material representations of the architecture of modern nations, representations of Chinese architecture were set up in the Boston Music Hall in 1859 (Fig- 136). In a week the net profits to the building fund of the Boston Y. M. C. A. were $17,000. birthplack of franklin. j8i In 1872 the idea was more boldly executed (Figs. 139-140), and in 30 days the net profit was over $30,000 after outlay of $59,612.71. In a hall apart an illustration was made of the birthplace of Benjamin Franklin (Figs. 138, 139). The profits were about $800 — more than the estate sold for in 1812. Now the midway plaisance is an essential feature of all world’s exposi- tions. Simulations of ancient life and manners will have the advantage of greater novelty, stimulating curiosity — the impulsive force to acquisi- tion of knowledge. F. W. Smith, 1859. Benjamin Franklin in Boston. No. 7. AS TO THE COST OF THE GALLERIES. In reference to the cost of the Galleries of History and Art, it should be noticed — in remembrance of exact statements in Part II — that they are mainly of one story ; none of great height ; none of expensive design (the design counts but little in concrete), and they are large inclosures, long galleries, or large halls without interior partitions, furniture, plumbing, etc. Quotations of the Carnegie Steel Company give the cost of structural steel considerably less than the price figured by Mr. Renwick in 1891. Cement is about the same. There is no doubt but that the Galleries of section like Fig. 26, Part II, can be built for $25,000 to $30,000 per 100 feet range. As to contents, it is shown in the Halls of the Ancients that illus- 182 ADDENDA. trative historical paintings, such as the six specimens by Messieurs Pascal and Zurcher can lie executed at Si 50 each in he st’le adopted constantly for such use in France and Germany. is is because they are copies. There is no expense or delay for design. series of Pinelli’s Storia Graeca in the same style as the Romana has ited nearly a cen- tury to be transferred to canvas for “diffusion of 1 iwledge among” Americans. Revival of interest in classic history by late graphic fiction will stimulate their study. One hundred and two paintings, copies of the Pinelli Series on exhibition in the Roman Historical Gallery, Halls of the Ancients, 1,000 feet range would cost $15,300. No. 152.— Fasade of the Halls of the Ancients, Nos. 1312-1318 New York avenue. Washing- ton, D. C. I o 'DESIGNS, VLANS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR THE AGGRANDISE- MENT OF WASHINGTON An Egyptian Column. The Lotus Bud. Restored in the Halls of the Ancients, Washington. jVA j| | C. Chipiez, Restorer. 56th Congress, ) SENATE. 1st Session. f ( Document I No. 209. PART III. DESIGNS, PLANS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR THE Aggrandizement of Washington, Franklin Webster Smith. February 12, 1900. —Presented by Mr. Hoar, referred to the Committee on District of Columbia, and ordered to be printed. WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. I 9 OO. F» R T r Petition of Franklin Webster Smith for a site for National Galleries of History and Art. Descriptive Handbook of the Halls of the Ancients, 1312, 1314, 1316, 1318 New York Avenue, Washington, Constructed for promotion of said Galleries according to the design annexed.— 74 pages, 53 illustrations. PART II. Design and Prospectus for National Galleries of History and Art in Washington, by Franklin Webster Smith. — 173 pages, 134 illustrations. For Part I the author furnished electrotypes of the text with illustrations. For Parts II and III he supplied electrotypes for 113 illustrations. The colored pages aud printing in color were also contributed by the author. 2 REMARKS OF MR. HOAR IN THE SENATE. [From the Congressional Record, Fifty-sixth Congress, first session. Washington, Monday, February 12, 1900.] National Gallery of History and art. Mr. Hoar. I present the petition of Franklin W. Smith, of Boston, Mass. , praying for an appropriation of land for a site for National Galleries of history and art, and for aid in the establishment thereof. I ask unanimous consent to make a statement in regard to this petition. The petitioner is a business man of great distinction and success, who for many years has devoted his life to the promotion of National Galleries of art which shall represent and reproduce the architecture, both public or ornamental and domestic, of the ancient nations, especially Greece and Rome, but also the Oriental cities. He has devoted his whole time to a study of that subject and has become an eminent authority. He has made a large collection of books and prints, and has, with the financial cooperation of Mr. S. Walter Woodward, of Washington, on New York avenue, in this city, built and adorned some halls showing great beauty and in full size Roman, Egyptian, Assyrian, and Saracenic architecture. What the petitioner desires is to have the site of the old observatory appropriated by the United States, and some land in the neigborhood, where he will place his own collection and devote himself entirely, if he maybe permitted, to advancing that work. It will become, at a very moderate cost, a great ornament to the capital of the nation, and it will have an educational power, he thinks, more ]>otent than many lecture- ships or professorships. He hopes very much that the members of the two Houses will, before acting upon his petition, visit, as some gentlemen I am told have already visited, the beautiful collection and buildings here. I ask unanimous consent that this petition, which is very brief, com- prising a page or two, and the Design and Prospectus which accompany it, may be printed as a document, for the use of the Senate. I under- stand that there are some plates, but he has all the plates prepared, so that that will be no cost to the Government. The President pro tempore. The petition will be referred to the Committee on the Library. Mr. Hoar. I rather think it would be better on the whole that the petition should go to the Committee on the District of Columbia, as it asks for the occupation of certain lands within the District. The President pro tempore. It will be so referred. The Senator from Massachusetts asks that the paper which he presents may be printed as a document. Mr. Hoar. The petition and papers. The President pro tempore. Is there objection? The Chair hears none, and it is so ordered. 3 CONTENTS. Part III. AGGRANDIZEMENTS. First aggrandizement: Page. Several remedial and ornamental suggestions for Pennsylvania avenue . . . 19 Second : Condemnation of 220 acres adjacent to the old Naval Observatory and an addition thereto of 100 acres of Potomac Park, for Park Istoria 12 Third: A new Executive Mansion 37 Fourth : A pavilion memorial bridge 46 Fifth: A Centennial avenue as a boulevard 54 Sixth: Porticoes for shelter and luxurious promenade 66 Seventh: Clearance of Sixteenth street from rookeries — Its adornment as a bisect- ing boulevard — Its name to be Executive avenue 73 Eighth : The Park Istoria — Removal of the museums — A street of dwellings of mankind through the ages 86 Ninth: A National avenue — Homes of the States 92 Tenth: Protection and beauty for the banks of the Potomac — Terraces and river boulevards 105 Eleventh: Transformation of Analostan Island to an lsola Bella 109 Twelfth : Condemnation of land in south Washington for enlargement of park .... 116 Thirteenth : Final completion of filling of all flats bordering on the city 1 1 8 Fourteenth: Erection of future great charitable institutions on the hilltops of Ana- costia 1 19 Fifteenth: Free municipal baths for Washington, upon a scale proportional to population, equal to those of any city 125 Sixteenth: A National Hall of Fame in the colonnade of American Galleries on the Potomac 132 Seventeenth: Memorial statues to the civil heroes on the roll of benefactors of the Republic and the world 133 CONCLUSIONS. Measures recommended: A permanent commission for device and execution of comprehensive plans for the aggrandizement of Washington, with tenure of office and powers • for not less than ten years, after the precedent of the Massachusetts Metropolitan Park Commission of 1892 138 A National Society for the Aggrandizement of Washington 143 *A personal statement 148 ADDENDA 155 A few brief repetitions of text and of illustrations occur to make each part self-explanatory. 5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Frontispiece. Page. 1-2. Present condition of Pennsylvania avenue 10 3. Present condition of Pennsylvania avenue 11 4. Rue de Fdves, Paris, 1852 12 5. The Rue Rivoli, Paris, 1862 13 6 . Restoration of the Villa of Maecenas 14 7. Restoration of the Circus Maximus 15 8. Restoration of the Circus Maximus at grade 16 9. Porticoes for Pennsylvania avenue 16 10. National avenue proposed in 1891 17 11. A restoration of Roman grandeur 21 12. The Brandenburg Gate as a Lincoln Gate for portal to the Capitol 22 13. Porticoes in the Forum of Pompeii 23 14. Porticoes in Berlin 25 15. Porticoes in Carlsbad 25 16. Forum of Trajan restored 26 17. Plan of proposed new location of Pennsylvania Station 28 18. Municipal buildings, Bath, England 3 1 18. Roman bath, Bath, England 3 2 19. Old Naval Observatory 33 20. Land eastward of Observatory 33 21. Premises adjoining the Observatory 34 22. Hancock House and old State House, Boston 38 23. Design of Mr. Paul J. Pelz for new White House 4 1 24. Ground plan of new White House 43 25. Mr. Pelz’s design expanded across Sixteenth street 45 26. An ideal from Roman grandeur for bridge 4 8 27. A triple pavilion bridge 49 28. Section of the triple bridge 5 ° 29. Concrete construction with iron 5 1 30. Capital from the Erectlieum in concrete 52 31. First line proposed for Centennial avenue 55 32. Plan for Executive avenue and new White House 56 33. Plan showing proposed condemnations 57 34. An ornamental portico for a park 65 35. Ground plan of porticoes, roadway, ail'd bridle paths 66 36. Peristyle in a park 67 37. The ruined porticoes of Palmyra 68 38. Colonnaded court 69 39. Pompeii restored 7 ° 40. Restorations of the palaces of the Ctesars 7 ° 41. Design for a portico with solarium 7 1 42. Arcades and colonnades in Bologna 7 2 43-44. Views at L and M streets, on Sixteenth street, April, 1900 74 45. A design for screen front with ampelopsis vine 76 46. Tower of Villa Zorayda with ampelopsis 76 47. Hotel Granada, of both solid and thin concrete 76 48. Playstead in Boston Park 7 8 7 8 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. 49. Girls’ gymnasium, Charlesbank, Boston 79 50. Boys’ gymnasium, Charlesbank, Boston. ... 80 51. Playstead and turf bank, Charlesbank, Boston 81 52. House of cement concrete _ 83 53. Design for National Museum 87 54. Plan for one hall to eight halls 88 55. A Roman house 90 56. AByzantinehou.se 90 57. A Saracenic design 91 58. A Chinese house 91 59-98. Thirty-eight homes of the States, as constructed at the Chicago Exposition, proposed for a National avenue, Washington 93-100 97. Class from Washington High School in Assyrian throne room, Halls of the Ancients joi 98. National avenue and plan for use of 200 acres 103 99. A National Pavilion 104 100. Condemnation of the river banks in Massachusetts 106 101. Isola Bella 109 102. Labyrinth from Pompeii no 103. The gate at Mycenae hi 104. The gallery at Tiryns in 105. A pergola 112 106. Peristylium in the House of Pansa, Saratoga 113 107. Palace designed by Raphael 114 108. Tursi Doria Palace, Genoa, aggrandized 1 14 109. Restoration of Pretorian Camp on the Saalburg 115 no. Italian Gardens of Mr. Hunnewell, Wellesley, Mass 115 in. Royal Crescent Bath, England 116 112. Map of area of land gained by proposed condemnations 117 113. Greenwich Hospital, London 120 114. St. Thomas Hospitals, London 120 115. Rossini’s restoration of the Villa of Cassius 121 116. Design for building for Government Hospital for Insane 123 1 1 7. Map of municipal baths in Boston 126 118. New Dover Street Bath, Boston 128 1 19. Boys’ gymnasium, Dover Street Bath, Boston 130 120. Boys at anteroom of Dover Street Bath, Boston 130 121. Portrait of Dr. S. E. Smith, author of “America” 134 122. Facsimile of “America” 136 123. Audience at lecture on National Galleries 139 124. Roman annex of Halls of the Ancients as offices of National Society for the Aggrandizement of Washington 144 125. Facsimile of G. Washington’s final accounts with the United States, 1783. 150 126. Arched portal in St. Petersburg, through colonnades 175 127. Proposed design for memorial bridge 176 128. The arch of Septimius Severus, Rome, A. D. 205 176 129. Design for a bridge with porticoes 177 130. A concrete bridge in Eden Park, Cleveland 178 13 1. A concrete bridge with balustrade . 178 I 3 2_1 33 - Embowered houses in Washington 179-180 134-135. Views on the Potomac before Analostan Island 181 136. Concrete building in construction on Fifth street, Washington 182 137. Photograph of the work in progress, June 7, 1900. 183 THE “CITY BEAUTIFUL:’ THE AGGRANDIZEMENT OF WASHINGTON . 1 FIRST. A PLAN FOR A NATIONAL AVENUE FROM THE NATIONAL GALLERIES TO THE CAPITOL. By Franklin Webster Smith. First published, 1891. Revised, 1900. The grandeur of the proposed Galleries would have miserable contrast in the meanness and shabbiuess of their approach by Pennsylvania avenue, the width of which now aggravates the unsightly vista to the Capitol. The movement of trade northward has lessened its commercial value, and its tenantry has declined to uncomely pursuits. The stranger views the towering dome against the sky with admira- tion, but his impression of its sublimity is marred by sideshows advertis- ing “Wines, Liquors, and Cigars;" “ Rooms at go cents;" “ Hot soup, 5 cents a plate;" “Crabs and clams in every style ;" “French drip coffee, 5 cents;” “Lager, 5 cents." These economical caterers fill a useful place in the social system, sup- plying the wayfarer who must hoard his pennies, and meeting the needs of philosophers who, like Dr. Franklin, in penury, perambulate with “a roll under each arm;” but their premises do not accord with the mag- nificent colonnade that ranges beyond them against the eastern sky. ■The word aggrandizement has been well considered. Improvement does not cover the high aim of aggrandizement. Its synonyms are augmentation, exaltation, enlargement, advancement, promotion, preferment. (Webster). They include also enrichment, adornment. An alley ora ditch can be improved but not aggrandized. 9 Nos. i aud 2 — Views on Pennsylvania avenue, Washington, south side, near Botanical Garden. By Mr. L. C. Handy, Washington, 1891. PRESENT CONDITION OF PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE. 1 PRESENT CONDITION OF PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE. I I The annexed illustrations, taken in 1891 for the present use, display the motley announcements that line the grand (!) avenue: "Laid and Hams," "Samp/e Room," “ Shooting Gallery ,” “ Plumbing ,” etc. For years past public sentiment has voiced public expectation that the southern side of the avenue must at some time be vacated and the Mall be carried through to the Potomac.' Pennsylvania avenue will ultimately be Haussmanni/.ed; the more speedily the more economically and the more profitably to the National No. 3. — The rear of premises at the northeast corner of Pennsylvania avenue and First street N\V. The front of the estate is before the Naval Monument and the principal entrance to the grounds of the Capitol on the west. Treasury. A prompt and effective stroke of Napoleonic legislation is demanded. Fig. 4 is from a sketch made by Gustave Dore for Messrs. Hachette ’Since, block 323 has been obtrusively improved (?) by the post-office. Waiving criticism of its architecture, its worst aspect is that it stands askew with Pennsylvania avenue. From the balcony of the Capitol it is a towering irregularity. It has brought one blessing, a “solemn warning ” henceforth against constructions not on symmet- rical lines. There is already demand for its enlargement. If the land south of Pennsylvania avenue should be condemned, it could be brought out to the avenue. Then by reduction of its tower the structure might be recased in combination with the addition to cover its incongruities with future classic constructions. Its material would be opportune for a mediaeval castle on the Potomac, adjacent to the Galleries. (Fig. 78, Part II.) 12 THE TRANSFORMATION OF PARIS. a few days before the destruction of the premises in 1862. On the site of the Rue des Feves now stands the vast caserne, fronting the Palace of Justice, on the magnificent Boulevard Sebastopol, walled with superb structures for three miles. In 1852 precisely such wretched houses, in chaotic mass, filled the narrow streets on the site of the modern exten- sion of the Louvre and the Rue Rivoli. Fifty thousand population there lived in a dark labyrinth of disease and crime. The wand of Haussmann Paris, 1852. No. 4. — The Rue des Fives. Gustave I>or£. 1852. swept it away as rubbish, and in six years replaced it by the scene of Fig. 5. The new Rue Rivoli swallowed up more than five hundred old houses in thirty pestilential streets and alleys. Its reconstruction cost over $16,000,000. This was only one of many magical transformations that in one decade made Paris the most splendid city of the world. The Faubourg St. Antoine received i ,300 new houses. The Boulevards Haussmann, Males- herbes, de lTmperatrice, de 1 ’ Opera, and other superb streets were A CENTENNIAL AVENUE. 13 built in rapid succession. As a result, the people were better housed, and sanitary advantages equaled the architectural adornment. Whatever may have been the demerits of the Second Empire, historians will place the constructional regeneration of Paris to its honor. Such reconstruction, to small extent in comparison, is immediately demanded for Washington on economical considerations. A plan is clearly defined in the mind of the writer by which — First. Pennsylvania avenue, between the Treasury and the Capitol, would be redeemed from unsightliness and be made worthy of its termini. Second. A Centennial avenue’ would pass upon aline central under Paris, 1862. No. 5.— Tlie Rue Rivoli. 1S62. the dome of the Capitol to the proposed Parthenon on Observatory Hill. With stately constructions throughout the avenues, the architectural vistas (especially that of the Centennial avenue) would be of unsur- passed magnificence. This scheme would involve the condemnation of Pennsylvania avenue to the southward line of the Mall. The Baltimore and Potomac Rail- road station would be transferred southward and the market northward, more conveniently to the residential center. The blocks fronting the present City Hall should all be cleared (as shown by shading on the map) for the proper surrounding of a new and suitable structure.- It will be observed that south of Pennsylvania avenue the property condemned is 1 Now Centennial Avenue. Named National Avenue 1891, V, Part 1 . A CENTENNIAL AVENUE. 14 comparatively of small extent and value. The Centennial avenue would be almost entirely within present Government ownership. The opinio7i is confidently expressed that these improvements can be effected at a large proft to the National Treasury that could be appropt i- ated to the National Galleries. The land thus cleared would lie newly plotted for grand constructions with superb facades in columnar style, affording great accommodations in attractive apartments col- onnaded around interior courts and gardens, or, better, assigned entirely to future Govern- ■- ment buildings. * Such properties would find immediate and ? remunerative occupation. In a competitive >. sale they would command great values from 2 the capitalists of the country and the world. 5 One such block would furnish more and bet- ' J « ter accommodation than all the assorted and | inferior buildings that now deface the avenue. » When Washington shall have its National § Galleries, these structures will find occupants 7 in thousands of resident students and of visit- ors from the entire Union. From the sites £ * •f thus provided, Government would take those £ preferable for public buildings. When a new Executive residential mansion •a is built, the present building will probably be 3 assigned to business purposes* save the East £ Room and the President’s office, to be pre- = served forever for their historical interest. I The offices in which the martyr Presidents, X I. Lincoln and Garfield, wrought tor their coun- vO o try should be perpetually 1 1 hushed in solemn black.” Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, are hints of the effective results imagined; motifs for study and com- bination in design. In this brief announcement, of course only hints are attempted; the most desirable is the construction of colonnades, about 20 feet wide, at some distance from the fa?ades of the buildings. These would afford delightful promenades, always sheltered from rain and sun. such as are enjoyed in European capitals, Paris, Turin, etc. The esplanade above, with the porticoes, balconies, and colonnades, to be combined in the structures adjacent, would afford vast accommodations for the increasing thousands who in A CENTENNIAL AVENUE. 15 the future will throng the Capital on inaugural and other ceremonial occasions. I imagine these avenues in circuitous connection, grander than that of ancient Palmyra, through which rode Zenobia to the Temple of Helios, the Sun God — the handsomest, bravest, most learned, most prudent of women — in the combined pomp of Roman and Oriental ceremony and display. As in Palmyra, they would be flanked by colonnades and projecting por- ticoes, the friezes and pediments bearing in letters of golden bronze the farewell injunctions of Washington to future generations of the Republic, the benign utterances of Lincoln, and other like inspirations to wisdom and No. 7. — Canina’s restoration of Circus Maximus, with added motifs by F. W. Smith. patriotism from departed statesmen and heroes of the nation. Votive columns would rise to their honor, like that to Oranes in the Palmyrene capital: “ By the Senate and the people: as a lover of his country, and in every regard deserving well of his country and of the immortal gods.” But towering above the colonnades of Palmyra, on the national avenues of the modern Republic would appear practical constructions to be profit- ably utilized , beyond Grecian and Roman proportions, in all their dignity, symmetry, and beauty. Such designs will have the same facility and economy of concrete con- struction, with the same accuracy of architectural requirements, as here- inbefore described for the National Galleries. i6 A CENTENNIAL AVENUE. The Circus Maximus of Rome received 150,000 people, who thronged from the utmost limits of the Empire to witness games iu honor of the gods. No. 8. — A section of the Circus Maximus Rome reduced to a street grade. No. 9. — Porticoes on Pennsylvania avenue. A Hall of Records. Its pediment should bear, in letters of golden bronze, ‘ Reverence the Union;" the friezes of the colonnades, Lincoln's beatific utterance, “ With malice toward none , with charity for all , with fairness in the right as God gives us to see the right , let us strive on" etc. By intelligent and enterprising legislation a national avenue is an easy possibility, that shall place in grand array a far greater throng of American citizens to hail the inauguration henceforth of Presidents of the United States. PLAN OF PROPOSED PENNSYLVANIA, UNION, AND NATIONAL AVENUES IN i 8 qi. □□□ L>.cl U\7*QCi 'iucziucnmMI l£L a □ □ □ m$si;i=i> [MEJ an l ™o \ocS iiHMO PODti aafc i □ □If □ □D? □ □Cl □□Pi cm unu nan S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 3- -2 17 National Galleries, at the west, over the terraced Historical Galleries. i8 DEVELOPMENT OF PLANS. [From the Congressional Record, April 7, 1900.] IN THE SENA TE. NATIONAL GALLERY OF HISTORY AND ART. On motion of Mr. Gallinger it was ordered that leave be granted to insert certain cuts and accompanying text in the publication of Franklin Webster Smith, praying for an appropriation of land for National Galleries of History and Art, and for aid in the establishment thereof in the city of Washington, D. C., the petition for which was referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia and ordered to be printed on the 1 2th of February-, 1900. The above legislation was obtained for this publication as germane to the original prospectus of 1890, after further study and information, and to illustrate more clearly- its recommendations. Pessimistic readers of the following outlined suggestions may think them so impracticable as to whisk them off to Brobdingnag as a day dream. The author contends that they are not at all disproportionate to their field, the opportunity, and the necessity. 1 Allowing twenty years for the accomplishment of the main results, the pace would be moderate compared with Haussmann’s renovations of Paris, the Chicago or the present French exposition. They are exaggerated in effect when viewed as a whole, although in the aggregate the outlay does not surpass the amount spent, in Washing- ton in two or three decades since the war. The special aim is to argue the wisdom of viewing the demands of the future in a preconsidered combination. A man buys 5,000 acres for a splendid estate. If wise he will plan at the outset its roads, its clearances, its park, its gardens, and its build- ings. He will move simultaneously upon all his conceptions for joint progress, that at the time which he may dictate -with means and energy- lie may enter upon the fruition of his ideals. He would not spend five years upon his palace and leave a ditch before his porte cochere. ‘They are moderate compared with the plan of L’ Enfant laid upon the site of Washington in 1800. This comparison recalled the following letter of the late Mr. Henry C. Bowen, proprietor of the New York Independent. It is one of very many in similar vein received during the last ten years. The Independent, 251 Broadway , New York , September 5, i&gi . Mr. Franklin W. Smith. My Dear Sir: I think y-ou will like the notice I ordered written about your project for National Galleries, and hope it will do you good. If you make this a “ life work” you will succeed. But don’t lower your standard. Work for the largest and best Galleries in the world, and stick to it to the end (for it is worthy of a life), and you will succeed. I can only spare time to say that you have my best wishes. Very truly, yours, Henry C. Bowen. FIRST AGGRANDIZEMENT. 19 Pictures herewith show that the comparison is not amiss for contrasts of the United States Capitol, the most splendid building in the world, and the slum at its portal now as for fort}' years. There are many like contrarieties at the capital of grandeur and meanness. The people have invested say $50,000,000 or $100,000,000 in their national city. It is still unequally improved. Wild spots are frequent. Broad calculations to cover a full remedy and to create new attrac- tions are not visionary, but sensible. Wisdom dictates such forethought for Washington if it is to become what it should be and may be — A CITY BEAUTIFUE. The writer offers an impulsive effort for a preliminary sketch toward a grand consummation which is only possible by national legislation stimulated by national approbation. 1 He presumes to give no more force to his ideas than to call them sug- gestions. Their style indicates that they are set forth more as a stimu- lus to criticism and improvement; to the presentation of other plans and expedients for the great purpose of an aggrandizement of Washington, than with expectation of their adoption as finalities. They have been hurriedly prepared, since the Senate resolution, to illustrate the scope of the work, which is advocated for a commission with prolonged tenure of office, that it may well mature and then execute its plans. It is also a pleasant anticipation that it may initiate an association for ‘ ‘ missionary work ’ ’ to enlist the interest not only of Congress and Wash- ington but of the nation, for a high standard of municipal architecture, and for best facilities for the health, comfort, and pleasure of communi- ties. A scheme for such an organization is appended. 2 First Aggrandizement 3 Of Pennsylvania Avenue Expedient and Attainable at Relatively Incon- siderable Outlay. Item A . — The condemnation entirely of the south side of Pennsylvania avenue, as above proposed in 1891, to B street , bordering the Mall. The Commissioners of the District reported (February, 1900) to the Senate that the blocks fronting on Pennsylvania avenue measure 649,848 1 It should be observed that the design for the Galleries and other buildings omits all exterior sculpture and ornament. The first work is to obtain ample grounds and buildings. Then surplus wealth of another generation can overlay pediments, cor- nices, etc., with high art. 2 A National Society for the aggrandizement of Washington. 3 Pure water instead of the muddy water of late from the Potomac is not named as an aggrandizement. With bread it is a perennial necessity of being in life at all. The remedy has now the attention of Congress. 20 CONDEMNATIONS ON PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE. square feet (about i2 l /> acres); that they would cost with improvements $5,929,997, or $9.11 per square foot. These blocks cover less than one-lialf the area of private property between Pennsylvania avenue and the Mall. The remainder measures about 850,000 square feet. Its value can not be over one-third of that with frontage on the avenue, or about $2,000,000, making about $8,000,000 for all land between Pennsylvania avenue and the Mall. The blocks on the avenue to Sixth street are not shaped for public buildings, being angular in shape and only half the depth of the post- office block. Squares B and A and the market space only are of suffi- cient size. To improve merely the front line of Pennsylvania avenue and leave the slum between it and the Mall would emphasize its present offensive- ness. Condemnation should certainly strike all the tract. With the streets, the land obtained would measure about 2,850,000 square feet, or 65 acres, at a cost, say, of $3 per square foot. The stated income of the property is alxmt 4 y 2 per cent on the appraisal, larger than Government interest on bonds. Until required for buildings the purchase would be a good investment if the premises were purified and slightly improved, i. e. , in case the United States should be impoverished and not able to afford an addition of the vacant territory to the park. Item B. — Condenmation of two blocks on the north side, next to entrance to the Capitol Grounds. To condemn on the north side of the avenue, next to the Capitol grounds, reservations 10, 11, and 12, blocks 572 and 574. These are in a degraded condition, disgraceful at the portal of the most splendid building in the world. They are unsalable and must take a low appraisal. Opposite are the national gardens. The reduction of business area on the avenue would largely enhance the value of the remainder on the north side, and consequently its tax- able value. Elegant properties like the Star and Post buildings, the Raleigh, new Willard’s, and other hotels would rapidly replace its motley aspect. When that condemnation is made there will be two large areas in commanding position cleared for buildings worthy of their value. The gardens are contracted, wholly unworthy of their purposes and of these days. Propositions to take 500 acres on the Virginia side of the Potomac are proportionate to the advance in horticulture, floriculture, and arbori- culture in 1900. Compared with the Kew Gardens of England and the relative scale of fruit and food farming in the United States, 500 acres are insignificant. The slum opposite the palm house and liefore the Capitol has held its hold for a half century in downward progress. Nineteen hundred should commemorate its annihilation. A RESTORATION OF ROMAN GRANDEUR 21 No. ii. — A restoration of Roman grandeur. 22 A PORTAL PROPORTIONATE TO THE CAPITOL. Annexed is a view of Roman magnificence appropriate as a motif for this conspicuous site. Figure 1 2 gives but a slight impression of the grandeur of such a por- tal before the Capitol. To realize it one must gradually approach it 1 No. 12. — The Brandenburg Gate as a Lincoln Gate before the CapitoL from the center of the avenue at Sixth street. The elevation of the hill lifts the facade of the Capital high above what would be the cornice of the gateway. Its width, at two-thirds that of the avenue, proportional to the front A LINCOLN GATE — COLONNADES. 23 of the Capitol, would be only that of a noble lodge to a vast palace. Both are heightened in dignity by their relation and contrast. Again, the approach from Sixth street reveals the disfigurement of the Senate wing by the thrust against it of the old buildings at the cor- ner by the angle at First street. When that block is condemned it can be remedied by a V opening, as will be suggested at a like angle at Fif- teenth street S. and the avenue, which butts into the Treasury. Item C. — A Lincoln Gate. Span the avenue at Four-and-a-lialf street by the Brandenburg Gate of Berlin as the Lincoln Gate at Washington. That owes nothing to mod- ern genius. Its original was the Propylaeum of the Athenian Acropolis. The majestic dome of the Capitol would display its restful base upon the massive entablature and columns on lines of classic perfection of beauty in strength. Item D. — Colotmadcd porticoes from the Lincoln Gate to the Capitol. No. 13. — Forum of Pompeii, restored, with the porticoes. From the Lincoln Gate should extend porticoes on either side to entrances of the Capitol park. Noble classical facades should range with the porticoes worthy ot the unsurpassed location. Their solidity should be relieved by surrounding parterres of flowers and verdure. Porticoes should range Pennsylvania avenue at intervals on both sides. Their desirability for comfort and ornament will be argued more at length in relation to their general introduction on main avenues of the future “City Beautiful.” 24 PORTICOES CARRYING ESPLANADES. Item E. — Construction of opc?i porticoes with balconied esplanades above , at frequent intervals along Pennsylvania avenue. Their desirability for protection and ornament can only be appreciated by experience. If the four triangular plots were covered by them their popularity would be in evidence. In tropical deluges of rain, frequently the cause of illness, they would be welcome retreats. Seenieally they would align the avenue from its abrupt breaks and screen motley store fronts behind them. One in concrete would lie of insignificant cost and would supply molds for others that would be quickly demanded by public sentiment. Here annexed are modern availments of ancient porticoes. Item F. — A magnificent Pennsylvania Railroad Station with Ea(ade on a Plaza open to the Avenue. Negotiate with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for the construc- tion of the most magnificent station in the world, with a facade upon a plaza directly upon Pennsylvania avenue. The annexed design may be an inspiration for the ultimate conception. It is a reconstruction of the Forum of Trajan . 1 The market estate is in the most central and desirable location. As the lease of it soon expires, it would seem that an exchange for the present railroad property might be accomplished. The country could well afford to give part or all of it to secure such a splendid result for the coming centuries. For the shaft of Trajan sculptured with victories over ancestors of the German race erect a column of the American Union bearing escutcheons of the States in order of accession. Surmount it by the Angel of Peace with an olive branch instead of a Victory waving a sword of ghastly history. The present open areas in front of the market would give the forum as a plaza to the station. The facades of temples seen at the right and left are entrances to colonnades on the avenue. The Roman fasces, the bundle of rods bound to typify strength in union, would be significant symbols in ornament — E pluribus unum. Since the above was written the annexed report appeared in the Washington Star. It is a discouragement to reasonable expectation; but considering the stake at issue efforts should not be stayed for wiser action. 'Fischer’s Civil and Historical Architecture. Leipzig, 1721 PORTICOES. 2S Modern Return to Ancient Porticoes. No. 14. — Porticoes surrounding the National Oallery of Berlin. No. 15. — Mulilbruuneu Portico at Carlsbad. 20 No. 16.-FORUM OF TRAJAN, RESTORED. A GRAND RAILROAD STATION ON THE AVENUE. 27 THE COST TOO GREAT— PENNSYLVANIA ROAD’S OBJECTION TO LOCATING STATION ON THE AVENUE. Senator McMillan has received a reply to his letter to the officials of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company, in which he suggested the desirability of that company purchasing the square in front of their II street station, and bounded by Pennsylvania avenue, Sixth, Seventh, and B streets, 1 in order that the station might front on the avenue. The railway company officials replied that they could not favor such a project unless Congress should assume the cost of at least a part of the extra expense that would be so placed upon them in the purchase of this square of ground. Senator McMillan does not consider this suggestion as a practicable one, so that his proposition is likely to be dropped. It was hardly to have been anticipated that the railroad company would assume all the expense of land for public adornment. A precedent for broad and liberal cooperation has been furnished in the negotiations of the city of Boston with the railroad companies for the new vast union station. Witness the following summary of a noble result: Mayor’s Office, Boston, Mass., April 12, /goo. My Dear Sir: The city has expended for its own parks about £ 16,000,000. The metropolitan parks cost about £10,000,000, the city of Boston being liable for about half. The metropolitan parks are the property of the State. The State has not contributed toward the South Station, I think. The city has issued £2,000,000 in bonds to pay for work incidental to the station, and may issue another million. The station itself is built and paid for by the railroads. The North Station, as you may know, did not cost the city a dollar, directly or indirectly. Specific answers to your questions will be made on demand. Very truly, yours, Thomas N. Hart, Mayor. Franklin \V. Smith, Esq., 13/2 New York avenue, Washington , D. C. A CONTRAST. Boston is a city of about 500,000 popu- lation. It has issued bonds to pay ‘ ' for work incidental to the station to the amount of £2,000,000, and may issue another mil- lion.” This was to provide suitable ap- proaches to the station and ample area in front of and around it. The station is not upon a principal thoroughfare. Washington is “the seat of the nation” of 75,000,000 population, now in receipt of surplus revenue at the rate of £75,000,000 per annum. The block in front of the present sta- tion on the avenue is appraised at less than £1,000,000 with improvements. If the voice of the people of the United ' States could be heard they would buy the block and not have the new £1,500,000 station in a narrow third-class street “round the corner.” It is to be ardently desired that Congress will immediately forecast the public judgment and by prompt resolution decree an every wise beneficial aggrandizement of Pennsylvania avenue. 'Block 461— appraised at £672,484; improvements, £294,055; rental, £64,624; 76,587 square feet. No. 17. — Plan showing proposed relocation of Pennsylvania Railroad territory by report of April 10, 12th, Oa Op 327 8 v? 1 US ! 28 GRAND PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD STATION. 29 On the 10th of the current month, April, was published a report of negotiations with the Pennsylvania Railroad concerning the Baltimore and Potomac line in the city, new station, etc. It is evidently a very exhaustive treatment of the subject. What the present writer suggests in reference to a station for the Pennsylvania Rail- road is simply in relation to architectural effect. He knows nothing of the engineering, legal, and other complications involved. Probably these bar the removal of the station from its present site ; but the report, so far from conflicting with the main idea here advocated, prepares the way for its more urgent advocacy. In ignorance of the territory owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company or of what is proposed by new legislation to be conveyed to them, it is not presumed to attempt definite suggestions. A writer in the Star (May 2) states that in all probability Armory Square “will be almost exclusively devoted to railroad purposes within a few years — a blemish to be made more conspicuous by a Centennial avenue. ’ ’ The annexed plan shows the proposed new lines of entry of the Penn- sylvania Railroad to its new depot. It will occupy the whole block on which now it covers but a corner. Its tracks will cut off the Botanic Garden from the park. It exhibits plainly the damage to the picturesqueness of the park. Yet it may be a monumental enrichment instead, when its bridge is cast upon the arches and covered in a pavilion cast from the molds of the Memorial Bridge (vide pp. 48-50). If a portion of these lands are to be under control of the railroad companies, they should not cut off ample communication between the two sections. The convenience of the railroad should yield largely to public pleasure and advantage — by arches, not, like those under Broad street station in Philadelphia, low and forbidding, but wide, high, and grand, like that under Charing Cross station over the Thames embankment in London, to be buried in verdure. That could be an orna- mental connection, and there would be then but one park of goodly size. When the Pennsylvania Railroad expends a million and a half on a new station, it will be lamentable to have it placed in the rear of a block on Pennsylvania avenue. That block should be cleared for a plaza in counterpart of the Roman Forum reproduced. The colonnades in the lat- ter should range along the facade of the new station and should entirely surround the plaza. It is sincerely to be hoped that when it shall rise it will be a classic exemplar for other constructions to follow. Washington is synonymous with the seat of national legislation ; its characteristic architecture, therefore, should be accordant in dignity. No style equals that of Greece for this expression. For modern utility it is in combination with the Roman arch, but without the meretricious 30 ENLARGEMENT of the mall. ornamentation with which in lavishness of luxury and love of display the Romans corrupted the purity of Grecian art. The angularities of the mediaeval and feudal styles, conglomerate iti the new post-office, or the florid ornament of the renaissance should find no place henceforth in Government constructions. The former is for effects, romantic or picturesque : the latter is appro- priate in the domain of art and of luxury ; but the atmosphere of Wash- ington in entirety should be that of the calm majesty of the Capitol and the portico of the Treasury. The human mind has sought and found expression in architecture. Without voice to lie heard it has a power of impression to be felt. It is a voice in the air, subtle but powerful. 1 Item G. — Clearance of the market estate and its addition to the park. Upon the presumption that the tract between the avenue and the Mall will be condemned, then the market space should be cleared and added to the park. A magnificent addition will then be at hand for an aggrandizement that will be a joy forever. Let the proposed Union column of the States be transferred to this central point of the avenue, and at the center of a park treated with the highest possible art and skill of architects, artists, florists. Let fountains flow around its base as symbolical of the blessings of Webster’s panegyric — which should adorn in letters of golden bronze the frieze of a colonnade inclosing the square — “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!” Here occurs the possibility of a proper celebration in December, 1900, as recommended by the President, with the laying of a foundation stone for a Union Column. Apparently engineering details involved and the large appropriation demanded will delay commencement of the Bridge and the Centennial avenue will be much debated. If Congress should approve a column of the Union, as the lease of the market site is soon to expire, a central point of the square could be designated for a magnificent bronze column of the Union, to be belted with the record of the States’ accession in their order, and their shields. Foundation for this can be placed and a corner stone placed exactly upon its resting place so long as the Union shall endure. 1 1 recall vividly from personal experience voices from the past. I hear practical facts and arithmetic in the British Parliament; chain-lightning flashes of French passion in Paris; sonorous periods of Castelar in the Cortes at Madrid, in “the lan- guage of the gods;” glittering generalities of Rufus Choate in Boston and New York ; but in Washington the Jove-like depth and reverberation of Webster (see p. — ) — an invocation for the stateliness of Demosthenes in exposition of the Greek court of the National Galleries on the future American Acropolis. — F. W. S. tit A REMEDY OF THE VISTA AT FIFTEENTH STREET. 3 1 This occasion will awaken the national enthusiasm, will inspire oratory, will write its memory on the hearts of the youth of the land to pass onward to children’s children by the venerated tones of tradition. Item II. — Remedy to the utmost possible the awkward and disappointing butt of Pennsylvania avenue into the Treasury. It can be greatly relieved thus: Block 266 (the Hotel Regent) being condemned, at a point opposite the westerly line of the new Willard’s Hotel reverse the angle of the block between Willard’s and Fifteenth street with the avenue. No. 18.— Municipal buildings and technical schools, Hath, Rugland. This \l opening would give a visual range southwesterly, striking below the Sherman statue, over the Executive Grounds to B street, on Potomac Park. Now it ends northerly against the State, War, and Navy building. If the land and buildings between Willard’s and Fifteenth street were condemned and resold at auction, subject to a prescribed and suitable design for building, the betterment would pay all cost of the exchange. The}' are old and ordinary buildings. It would open an imposing view of the beautiful Ionic colonnade of the Treasury if the corners north and south of the avenue at this point could be rounded as in the example (Fig. 18) from the municipal build- 32 SECOND AGGRANDIZEMENT. ings of Bath, England.' A great advantage of that condemnation would be the control of the height of the buildings at this focal point of scenic effect. If a sky scraper should at this corner crush into downward insig- nificance the Treasury elevation, it would be a monumental aggravation. If the new Willard’s is to rise to discordant height the skyline from the corner might be raised to relieve it in part. Here again, as in all such instances, betterments would defray all cost. But what ! what ! ! if it did not? Fortunes were made in Paris by such creation of values, with still greater gains to the State, from Haussmann’s vast renovations. Here could be effectively introduced colonnades on curved lines in harmoni- ous contrast with the Brandenburg Gate at the east. Second Aggrandizement. The condemnation of 200 acres of land adjacent to the old Naval Observa- tory, now zoaste land — the dump. This condemnation will naturally follow — indeed, upon public con- sideration of the conditions involved and the great results to accrue, it is ‘Tlie author is glad to acknowledge the courteous liberality of the aldermen of the city of Bath, England, toward the National Galleries. Roman Baths about B. C. — Bath, England. The renowned Roman hatlis which were discovered beneath the city have been restored and arc now an attractive feature of the ancient town. Upon a request for a specimen of the original lead pipe, the terra cotta hot air pipes, etc., the aldermen departed from their established rule and by vote presented remarkably interesting relics that are now on exhibition in the Roman House of the Halls. American travellers will enjoy a visit to the picturesque old city and may well avail themselves of its complete establishment as a Spa. THE OLD OBSERVATORY HILL. 33 likely to precede — the condemnation of the south side of Pennsylvania avenue. The tract covers the entire area between Seventeenth street and the Potomac and between E and B streets (about 200 acres); adding the Observatory tract, 220 acres. This historic and important tract, the only natural elevation remaining within the limits of the city, designated above Washington’s signature (see facsimile, Part I) for an institution of learning, comprising 23 acres, the key to a grand development of 300 acres, as will be seen by plans herewith, is now utilized only for the purpose set forth in the annexed slip, occupying merely the old Observatory buildings. The balance of the estate is in disorder — kitchen gardens, with shanties, or utterly wild. Certainly a specialty, most scientific and important, but in detail abso- lutely without interest to most people, and, from its nature, repulsive to many, can not be afforded merely for exhibits below described. A MUSEUM OK HYGIENE — NEW USE FOR THE OLD NAVAL OBSERVATORY — SEEK MICROBES INSTEAD OF STARS. “There is a Naval Museum of Hygiene in Washington, established on the most historic spot in the city, containing objects of new and unique interest which have never yet come under the tourist’s eye, and which are seldom inspected by the "Washington public.” It is a white building, fashioned after the colonial style, with white wings on both sides, cut by arched windows and columned doors — that simple, majestic order of house framed long ago by the aristocracy of the South, but few examples of which remain around Washington to-day. It stands high on a northwest hill skirting the river near Georgetown, and a dome arising from its center above the silver poplars and maples marks it for miles in the distance as the old Naval Observatory. For several years after the removal of the Observatory to its present quarters on the Tennallytown road it remained under the eye of a solitary watchman, and the rains beat the ceilings in and weeds ran riot all over the 19 acres of the Observatory grounds. It is a bit remote from car lines, “ but that makes it all the more delight- ful,” said Dr. C. H. White, the surgeon in charge of the Museum, who has the left wing of the Museum transformed into far more comfortable quarters than he ever had aboard a man-of-war. “It is really an ideal spot for work. If we want the city, why, there it is.” He pointed to the roofs massed thick and gray off to the south, the Monument, the Capitol, the Library. The city makes a superb sweep just there, can be seen well, and the river gleams off to the rear, so that artists like to sketch on Observatory Hill. Its purposes are the preparation of models and drawings to be used in the illustra- tion of sanitary science and its progress, the preservation of the objects already col- lected, and the transportation of contributions intended for exhibition. Twenty- three cases of Museum exhibits were forwarded to the Nashville Exposition recently. The total number of exhibits in the Museum is now 2,000. Each room in the new Museum has not yet been particularly classified, except the library and plumbing and filter rooms, consequently are filled with a rather mis- cellaneous assortment, from Belgian and Chinese shoes, Korean hats, Mexican san- dals, down to all sorts and kinds of food, shells, cots, hospital ships, hospital camps, crematories, and water pipes. S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 3 3 34 PRESENT USE OF OBSERVATORY HILL. Under the head of architecture there are numbers of interesting exhibits, the models of barracks, wards, and a United States Army general hospital being of especial value. There are innumerable plans and models for the construction of No. 19. — The old Observatory building. No. 20. — View of land eastward from Naval Observatory. schools, colleges, asylums, almshouses, reformatories, factories, laboratories, hos- pitals, and ships, and for their proper ventilation, drainage, and illumination. The exhibit of vaults, morgues, mortuaries, cremation, and all methods and cus- toms for the burial of the dead are also unique and interesting, among them being CONDEMNATION OF LAND ADJACENT TO THE OBSERVATORY. 35 an exact reproduction in miniature of [the far-famed “Tower of Silence,” just outside the city of Bombay, where the vultures flock by the thousand for their feast on death. A model of the picturesque crematory at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Williamsburg, N. Y., is also on exhibition, and that hideous engine, “Sieman’s furnace,” as well as burglar-proof vaults, metallic burial caskets, Alaskan Indian caskets, and old Roman cinerary urns. For two hundred years or more Observatory Hill, under various and different names, has been one of the landmarks about Maryland. It colors up that entire dilapidated section of the city with a dash of the picturesque, and glows with interest and "story.” E street, it is seen, ranges westwardly from the southwest corner of Pennsylvania avenue and Fifteenth street (the Regent Hotel). The Corcoran Gallery is on the northeast corner of the tract. It is now the dump of the city. Its condition is shown in cuts annexed (Figs. No. 21. — Premises adjoining the Observatory, eastward. 19-21). It is stated by real-estate experts that a fair valuation is 50 cents per square foot. There are no improvements worthy of mention. If the northerly line of condemnation be carried halfway to F street the entire frontage in the Galleries and park would be under Government control. Rawlins Park is within the lines. This condemnation will be inevitable sooner or later. The approach to a memorial bridge by New York avenue, as hitherto proposed, would otherwise be bordered with slovenliness. Its entrance at present would be adjacent to an overtopping brewery. It is confidently predicted that those diagonal avenues, cutting this large rectangular block into trian- gles, will be abandoned for parallel lines. They leave more pointed spaces, awkward for treatment and spoiling sites for large buildings, as on Pennsylvania avenue. The mischief will later be made apparent by contrast of another plan for this important block. 36 CONDEMNATION' OF OBSERVATORY TRACT. The terraced range of National Galleries for a half mile would now be bounded by shanties of the meanest description on E street. The frontispiece shows in their place blocks of apartments and extensive open-air restaurants, gardens, etc. These will lie demanded for econom- ical accommodation of thousands, who from their completion will crowd excursion trains for exhaustless facilities created for instruction. Now, in the supposed possession by Government of the line between E and F streets the most admirable opportunity is provided for realizing a happy thought. The tract would measure 5.000 feet in length by, say, 250 feet in depth. The houses of the States at Chicago are pictured, pps. 93-99. The range of 5,000 feet would be ample for all. Let it be apportioned in frontage according to their population, the assignment from the easterly terminal being made in the order of the accession of the States to the Union, and the lots sold to the different States for welcome resorts of their citizens in Washington. Thus the expense of splendid construc- tions along the whole line of the Gallery tract would return to the United States Treasury. Now it is, and without comprehensive control it will continue to be, an unsightly adjunct to Potomac Park and Centennial avenue. Plainly the frontage of E street or F street along the National Galleries would so enhance values of the tract adjacent north to Penn- sylvania avenue that the present taxable value of land condemned would return in surplus. Delay will bring greater cost and probably at a time more burdensome to the National Treasury than in 1900, when patriot- ism is responsive to greater grandeur for Washington. What are $10, 000,000 for such incalculable gains for all time placed against the vast total of national profits and the present scale of national expenditure ?' But if Congress withholds the accomplishment of both the south side of Pennsylvania avenue and of E street, the alternative should be pre- ferred of condemning the 220 acres for one-fourtli the money of the cost of 65 acres on the avenue. The 65 acres on Pennsylvania avenue would cost, say, $8,000,000. The 220 acres on the same line northerly and westerly to the Potomac, fronting on the park, with its entire boundaries in Government owner- ship. land well above the flood line, from 10 to 60 feet, with the Observ- atory lot included, draining to the river, adjacent to the Executive, State, War, Navy, and Treasury Departments — all in one solid block of rectan- gular form — can be had for less than $2,000,000. For the Government ownership of 220 acres it is necessary to buy only 105 acres, valued for taxation in 1890, with improvements, at $1,421,345, 1 15 acres being covered by streets, reservations, and the Observatory site. 'Abundant prosperity — See Addenda No. 2. THIRD AGGRANDIZEMENT. 37 For the acquisition of the block to E street (192 acres) there must lie bought only 77 )4 acres, valued at $604,300. This tract is appraised at an average of 18 cents per square foot. The entire tract is appraised at an average of 31 cents per square foot. Would it not be an advantage to have all Departments thus placed compactly together, rather than along a mile to the east? The Legisla- tive Department is only in Washington a part of the time. The others must be in constant communication throughout the year. The filled lands of Potomac Park are not up to intended grade. They are now a useless waste. The Mall would be greatly improved by ele- vation for draining and undulating surfaces in landscape. Gravel hills in Virginia should be moved across the river. Massachusetts filled a square mile of tidal basin from hills in Quincy, adding millions of profit to the State treasury and many more millions to the taxable real estate of Boston, in what is now one of the most beautiful and opulent resi- dential districts in the world. The filling cost but 35 cents per square foot. The delay of the completion of the parks for use has not only deprived a generation of their use, but has been a stop to financial gain to the city that would have followed. 1 At the time an appeal was made to save a tidal basin like the Alster, in Hamburg. Its failure will forever lie regretted. Washington has been more wisely guarded, securing four lakes that will be refreshing features of Potomac Park. Third Aggrandizement. A new Executive Mansion. The prospectus of 1891 anticipated, as a certainty of the future, a new Executive Mansion. A proposition to patch up the exquisite proportions of the old White House, to close up familiar openings that for a century have been the outlooks of Presidents, and which have met the eager and grateful gaze of the American people, by incongruous additions were not imagined possibilities. Lamentable will be the day when blows of demolition or additions shall mar its symmetry. It should be enshrined entire for patriotic in- spiration from gathered memorials of those who have wrought therein. For a century the will of the people through law has dispensed its authority in beneficent results of unparalleled happiness and prosperity. Massachusetts mourns the day when a narrow-minded legislature re- fused to buy and save the home of John Hancock for a gubernatorial mansion. l See addenda for statements of profits to the State of Massachusetts of over $6,000,000 in cash and other millions in prospect, besides very many times that amount to the valuation of the city of Boston, resulting from its liberal, energetic, and thorough enterprises of filling tidal basins and flats. 38 A NEW WHITE HOUSE. The debate on the purchase of the Hancock house occurred in the legislature of 1859, Nathaniel P. Banks, governor. The purchase was strongly recommended by him in his message. He said: “I know of no other subject that could better occupy the attention of the legislature on the birthday of Washington, hallowed by associa- tions connected with the memory and frequent presence of Washing- ton, Franklin, Lafayette, and other patriots.” The speech of C. W. Upham closed as follows: ‘‘My prayer is that when we come to the final vote we may give one loud, unanimous aye in favor of discharging this debt of patriotism to that name which is the exponent of the Union of the American States — the name that heads No. 22. — Hancock House and old State House, Boston. the glorious and immortal signers of the Declaration of Independence; of expressing this honorable sentiment of public gratitude; of exhibiting an example that will shine before our countrymen and be recorded in letters of light in the annals of the State.” The vote was: Yeas, 97; nays, 102. This vote was five years before the war for the Union had aroused patriotism, shown the powers and forecast the future greatness of the country. Five years later (1864) the purchase would have been overwhelmingly voted. In 1900 it would have unanimous aye. The people have since sought consolation in repentance by restoration REQUIREMENTS FOR A WHITE HOUSE. 39 of the old State House to its exact original aspect and its dedication to the history made by appeals of patriots within and fatal valor without its walls at the Boston massacre. Bet the White House remain in exact renewal as a national sanctuary. Bet a new structure be built adjacent without encroachment on the vista enjoyed by successive Presidents from its southern portico. Bet a Centennial monument of their executive administration be the terminal of that vista (at M on plan), as an incentive to faithfulness before a new structure (at N on plan) for executive offices. It should contain a reception hall for ambassadors and other formalities adjacent to the business departments. For nine years since publication of the above suggestions considera- tions of expediency as well as sentiment have confirmed the conviction of their wisdom. The debatable question is the site. 1. It should be the most healthful and available site, central to Wash- ington. Better of Dr. Sowers, Addenda. 2. It should be somewhat away from offices of Presidential care and labors, demanding at eventide a change of scene. 3. It should be magnificent in its elevation. As the flag of Britain floats alxive the round tower of Windsor, the ensign of America should wave responsively from heights, stronghold of its executive forces. 4. The President of the United States, representing a dignity un- equaled on earth, should have a luxurious and artistic home, ample for his hospitalities. 5. Adjacent but apart should be a grand Executive Mansion for a triple use: First. Official entertainment by the President of representatives accredited from foreign governments, that they may not bargain for quarters at hotels. Second. For state, diplomatic, and other formal dinners there should be suitable dining and drawing rooms. Third. For state and public receptions there should be a new East Room, more commodious and grand than the present, proportionate to the increase of the nation. Stateliness of a Presidential mansion is for the national pride of the people of the United States that they shall see him installed worthily of the dignity they have conferred upon him. These apartments should be open to the public when not in special occupancy. 6. Instead of the mews of a Czar or an Emperor, wherein 400 horses are stabled in palaces, the President of the United States and his family should dwell amid the richest products and loveliest beauties of Pomona and Flora. Presidential gardens should be like the Congressional Eibrary — unsurpassed; to be visited with delight by the people. They should be the highest realization through human intelligence of “ the 40 A NEW WHITE HOUSE. promise of even- herb yielding seed after its kind and every tree yielding fruit after its kind.” Such results from liberal expenditure would be ratified by the people, the honor and happiness of their President being shared by themselves. The country is indebted to the patriotic intelligence and artistic per- ception of Mrs. J. B. Henderson for a noble conception of a site and design for a new White House. 1 The architectural ability of Mr. Paul J. Pelz, architect of the Library (an advisory architect for the National Galleries), has been applied to illustration of Mrs. Henderson’s ideals. (See plate annexed.) Mrs. Henderson’s pen has clearly set forth in the press arguments for her plan and for a broad scheme for improvements of Washington there- with, as annexed. AVENUE AND WHITE HOUSE. [March 19, 1900.] To the Editor of The Evening Star: In planning future improvements at the national capital one ironclad rule should be kept in mind, namely, never to infringe on public parking for building sites. If our population continues to increase as it has done in the last hundred years, beginning with 5,000,000 and more than doubling every twenty-five years, another century must bring results scarcely conceived by him who lives to-day. A shortsighted Congress once gave away a third of the District — a mistake now deeply regretted. Another Congress failed to appre- ciate the scheme of Major L’ Enfant for the laying out of the capital city and declined to pay him more than a pittance for what they con- sidered an extravagant and foolish plan. Major L’ Enfant declined to receive both the pittance and the advice, and died in disappointment and poverty. (Record from history most lamentable! A future monument to his fame will be conspicuous in effort for atonement. — F. W. S.) We are now enthusiastically grateful for what he did accomplish, . regretting always that his plan for parks and avenues stopped short of the District line, and that so little provision was made for open spaces about all our public buildings. It has been said that the capital represents the face of the nation, while the States are the body. If the body is shabby and small, the face will be correspondingly contemptible. Our national fault has been that of narrow view and mistaken economy in all that regards the capital city. We have only been able to plan for the immediate needs of the time at which public improvements were ‘See letter of Hon. J. B. Henderson, ex-Senator from Missouri, Part I, page 4. 4i No. 23. — Design of Mr. Paul J. Pelz (Architect of the Congressional Library) for a new Executive Mansion. 42 A NEW WHITE HOUSE. made. The first Capitol, built a hundred years ago, was absurdly small. The second one was finished but twenty-five years ago, and is already inadequate. The White House, built a hundred years ago, was of a size to suit a country of 5,000,000 people. In fact, it has never taken long not only to prove the inadequacy of every public improvement, but to demonstrate equally how parsimony has not been economy. The United States buildings representing the various Departments of the National Government are, after all, very few. Why should they be surpassed in size and splendor? Are the American people mean and sordid and without taste? Let us not believe it. Let us rather believe that Congress has always been far behind the people in patriotic pride for the national capital. The people of our country have never complained of the cost or beauty of the Library building. If it had been twice as large and twice as beautiful it would have been doubly appreciated. No park or avenue or public building in Washington which may suit future national necessity is too fine or too splendid to please every American citizen. It belongs to them all. To visit the national capital is the worthy ambition of every one of them. They recognize that invest- ments based upon intelligent perceptions are not extravagant.' Broadness of view in relation to the glories of the national capital was refreshingly exhibited by the governors of various States lately assembled at Washington. They indorsed a report for centennial commemoration of the anniversary of the city by some great public improvements, and included a new Centennial avenue and something for a White House. An open boulevard leading from the Capitol building to the proposed memorial bridge may be useful and attractive, but let the committee of governors take a second sober thought before they suggest placing build- ings where they would cover a single inch of present parking, already far too limited. Let them change their scheme for a broad avenue partly bordered with magnificent public buildings on the natural thorough- fare and entrance street of Washington — Pennsylvania avenue. If Louis Napoleon, regardless of cost, could wipe out miles of solidly built squares in the center of Paris for the glory of France and the most beautiful capital city of the world, and to the delight of every French- man, the United States Government may not hesitate to remove a few indifferent business buildings on the south side of Pennsylvania avenue. Whatever may be the reasonable cost, it will never be less than at present. If what the governors want in the way of a White House suggests the filling up of the small open space between the Treasury and the State, War, and Navy Departments by the addition of appendages put up in the rear of the old Executive building and composed of the same cheap material to correspond with it, they do not rise to the dignity of a new White House nor the needs of the twentieth century in relation to it. 1 Voices of the Pres-s. Addenda No. 1. A NEW WHITE HOUSE. 43 They do not appreciate that the White House is not intended to accom- modate any President, his family, and his clerical staff alone, but that it must properly serve to entertain thousands and tens of thousands of people from all parts of the world. We respect and love the old White House for its traditions and its modest beauty. Let it remain unchanged and unsurrounded by append- ages forever. With a hill at the head of Sixteenth street (the future Executive avenue) and Florida avenue finer than the hill on which the Capitol is built, and double its height; finer than any of the seven hills of Rome; located in the center of the city, in the midst of its residence section; accessible to all the town; situated on the great driving boulevard, 160 No. 24. — Ground plan of Mr. Pelz's design for new White House. feet wide and 7 miles long, which leads most directly to the National Park and borders its entire length; containing from 50 to 75 acres of land covered at present with but a few cheap buildings; providing (on account of height and drainage and southern exposure) the most com- fortable residence site for both winter and summer that the District of Columbia affords — with this superb site at our command, may we not except to the selection of the back yard of a respected but small old building for the future Executive Mansion? The building is in form of letter H ; flanked at rear by hothouses; at the extreme the largest winter garden in the world; the court a Japanese garden. View from State dining room includes the vista of the conservatory and interior Japanese garden. Two entrances on the level, one from Sixteenth street and the other from Four- 44 NEW WHITE HOUSE ON THE HILL. teentli street; places to bank hundreds of carriages, reached without noise by electric figures on a screen. It would seem wise at the beginning of the new century to perfect some general plan for the future best interests of the national capital. Future generations would probably be very glad to help pay for these improvements made on a grand scale. Several squares now containing full-grown trees, situated in various parts of the city, should be promptly secured for public parks. The charming wooded hillside lying between Twelfth and Fourteenth streets on Florida avenue should be secured for parking. These are but a few suggestions for what should be an ex- tended and comprehensive plan for our national capital of the twentieth century. Mary F. Henderson. The conception and development are noble inspirations. When mate- rialized they will, like the Capitol and the Library, be a perpetual joy to the nation and further stimulus to its progress in refinement. The writer presumes, however, to magnify the design of Mr. Pelz by increased grandeur of its site. Mrs. Henderson locates the mansions on the hilltop at the easterly side of Sixteenth street. Sixteenth street bisects Washington east and west. It is a noble avenue, direct from the old White House across Jackson Square. It should be the central connecting boulevard of the system above proposed, dividing the length of its circuit. Its rise to ioo feet gives a commanding emi- nence. The portal of the new White House should face in a direct line the grand porch of the old one. But Sixteenth street must continue a highway. It is cut through the hill into a chasm. Obstacles often reveal compensating advantages. 9 Span the roadway by a grandiose Roman arch. Superimpose thereon a central entrance hall to the new White House. From it extend open colonnades of noble proportions right and left to the mansions. Then the entire structure will center from Sixteenth street and the old White House. Then the colonnades and facades will reveal grandly against the sky ; rising in dignity at the north, like the Capitol on the east, and as should appear the Partlienonic Temples and National Galleries on the hillcrest at the west. This effect may be enhanced, if the land will admit, by increasing the range of the colonnade, and also the distance of the two buildings from the roadway. The longer colonnade would throw the mansions farther from the roadway. Noise from the travel may be suggested, but the illustration places the buildings as far from the roadway as the old White House is from Pennsylvania avenue. It should l>e recognized that the noise of travel has greatly subsided in late years. Rails confine in rigid lines the preponderance of travel and No. 25.— MR. PELZ’S DESIGN EXPANDED AND CENTERED ABOVE EXECUTIVE AVENUE. 45 46 FOURTH AGGRANDIZEMENT. carry it quietly. Bicycles and automobiles with rubber tires are replac- ing the click of horses’ feet. Soon in cities freight automobiles will dispense with express wagons. Another requirement of the centering of the White House at Sixteenth street is that sufficient land may be obtained for a suitable estate. The present Executive grounds, with the White Lot, measure 1,750 by 2,400 feet, or 95 acres. With the appurtenances proposed, additional to two great mansions, the area of land should be not less than 125 to 150 acres. Standing at the head of Sixteenth street, it is apparent that the crest of the ridge runs both east and west from Sixteenth street. Fifty to 75 acres on each side only will supply the area required and demanded. The colonnade should be 500 feet in length between the mansions. Then the fa?ade on the hilltop will be imposing. The old White House measures 170 by 86 feet, adding 50 per cent — say 125 feet front by 250 feet deep. With the colonnade the range would be 750 feet. The Capitol is 75 1 by 350 feet deep (262,500 square feet), which gives 153,112 square feet of floor. The above dimensions, at the same calculations, would give floor area for lx)th the State Mansion and the President’s Mansion of 62,500 square feet, or 40 per cent of the Capitol. Again, standing on the edge of the bluff at Sixteenth street, if the sight is thrown forward to the center of the street and then turned northward and southward, imagination reveals the splendid vista, from the great entrance hall at the center of the colonnade, of the future Executive avenue, teeming with elegant life, between luxurious resi- dences, for 1 yi miles to the old White House. While the height will not equal that of the Parthenon (200 feet), the effect of the long colonnade and the vastly greater constructions will be as powerful in domination as the Parthenon and the Temple of Jove on the Capitol ine of Rome. Fourth Aggrandizement. A memorial bridge. A suggestion also from the prospectus of 1891 of “a magnificent entrance to the proposed ornamental bridge across to Arlington.” The via sacra of the National Galleries should connect therewith by the plaza proposed. (See plan, p. 1 17. ) The bridge is to lie ornamental and memorial ; i. e., to combine, probably, architectural grandeur and sculp- tural commemoration, by one or more triumphal arches spanning the roadway and bases for sculpture on pierheads at the sides. Those who have crossed the Tiber to the Castle of St. Angelo, and the A TRIPLE BRIDGE. 47 Seine from the Tuileries, will remember most vividly the din and rush of travel with more vehemence than the waters beneath. They will recall slight impression from the marble gods and heroes on the parapets who were to claim reverence or admiration. The bridges utilized for transport offer no chance for sentimental appreciation of the marred and grimed monuments on either hand. Hence the query, Is not a bridge of general traffic, with its inevitable clatter and untidiness, its pell mell of beings and things moving and movable, impossible for an atmosphere congruous with commemorative art? A public bridge per se may nobly commemorate historical incidents by dedicatory inscriptions thereon, but it can not be an inviting trvsting place for the muses. Yet the memorial bridge must be on the line of the imagined pictur- esque boulevard. What contrariety! Leaving the groves and porticoes, fountains and flowers of the park to plunge upon the rattling and rumbling of moving iron and stone, lime and lumber, bricks, hay, ferti- lizers, farm products, draymen, cattle, poultry, etc., intermingled with the gayety of a wedding parade or the solemnity of a funeral cortege! What can save this jar and break in the delectable boulevard drive around the capital ? Another inspiration from Roman grandeur in utility solves the problem. (See Fig. 26). Its palatial stateliness, its classic symmetry and dignity, suggest an imperial palace on the Palatine. Colonnades of the Campus Martius bordering the Tiber are flung across the river in disdain of its ‘ ‘ angry floods. ’ ’ Observe the proportion of the arch that rises above the equestrian statue of an emperor. There are compartments that may be open canopies or closed alcoves, with seats for comfortable outlook over, above, and below the flowing river. Rising slightly from its grade, the road passes into a vista of enchanting fascination. Sun rays barred from a zenith force steal aslant through columns of exact proportions, ranged as peristyles and again in groups supporting pediments. It is an ornamental, commemorative, picturesque pavilion offering pan- els and friezes for honorary inscriptions; a ceiling for rich effects of color; a delicious promenade, with outlooks at an elevation north and south, open to breezes in heat, defensible against the north winds in cold; the air of a grotto in summer, and the sunny warmth of a solarium in winter. It is a bridge, yet exempt from all noise, all unwelcome sights, all incongruities with its artistic and aesthetic charms. How are such elimi- nation and exclusiveness obtained? Answer: By a triple bridge dividing its width into three sections. The central, a covered pavilion, is carried at an elevation, say, 15 feet above two open roadways on either side below. The rise to and descent from grade are within the bridge. It forcibly excludes all rude, heavy traffic and hurried travel from the pavilion, leaving unalloyed enjoyment continuous and heightened in surprise from charms of the boulevard. No. 26. A magnificent ideal of Roman grandeur and an inspiration ior modern genius. / jv 71 /•" 1 (■"3 3M 1 | t » Jk e preserved with enhanced effect in adornment of architectural elegance. Since the above outline sketch of the boulevard through the Mall was sent to press, the plan of Colonel Bingham has been made public. Serious objections to it are: First. Appropriation of a large portion of Potomac Park to a military parade ground. This would mean a large, hard, graveled surface, or, if grassed, much broken and injured, treeless, for only an occasional use. The parade ground should be much larger and be located across the memorial bridge in Virginia, where land could be had at less cost than on the city side. Later constructions may be added of sections of a circus maximus (see Fig. 7) that, with the increase of population, will be extended until the entirety of Fig. 7 will be an accomplished fact, to receive 100,000 or 200,000 auditors for parades or military exercises en masse. I11 concrete reenforced by steel the structure could be imperishable, quickly dried from rains, never to need repair, and inexpensive proportionately to the occa- sional makeshift stagings of wood. Second. The block between K and B streets should never l>e cut diag- onally by New York and Virginia avenues. A large share of the land is wasted for advantageous use by the triangular lots left on both sides running to a point, useless for large building, as are those now on the south side of Pennsylvania avenue. (See plans, pages 103-1 17, for good use of the land.) The proposition for a Centennial avenue has been somewhat discounte- nanced for reasons as follows: Against it as “ taking 23 acres out of our largest city park. That is what an avenue 200 feet wide by a mile means.” There is a roadway 30 feet wide through the Mall from Third street to the river, ’ ’ claimed to be sufficient. The avenue is assumed ‘‘to run straight from the Capitol to the bridge, dividing the beautiful reservation in twain.” The advocacy of the avenue herein is most urgently in its connection with a picturesque, shaded, ornamented, meandering, environing bou- levard of the capital, such as now sweeps around Boston in unbroken beauty. It is to be exclusively a pleasure drive, unmarred by din of traffic, railroad travel, shop hunting, drayage, etc. Imagine an afternoon’s turnout of the fine liveries of the city turned from such loveliness and quiet for a mile across Pennsylvania avenue. Pennsylvania avenue will remain a business thoroughfare. Condem- REPORT MASSACHUSETTS METROPOUTIAN PARK COMMISSION. 59 nation of the entire south side and the easterly end to Four-and-a-half street will reduce its business frontage more than one-half, greatly increasing the value of the remainder. As an occasional route of a procession it would l>e used at discretion. Centennial avenue, if treated as it should l)e, would take nothing from the area of the park, nothing from its shade and beauty, but add greatly to both. It can follow present road lines in part. It should not be straight, but varied in its lines to curves to inclosed squares, relieved by fountains, Pompeian hemicycles as resting places, porticoes with elevated esplanades (see Fig. 34) , etc. . With these features it would be the most picturesque section of the Ringstrasse of Washing- ton, while its course above the hills on the north and the south would a stimulating contrast in panoramic splendor. The arguments annexed from the Report of the Massachusetts Metro- politan Park Commission for the condemnation of lands around Boston for boulevards, may be applied almost exactly to Washington: Our national capital is one of the best instances of a great city planned with a view to its growth into what it has now become, and it is conse- quently easier to provide it with the equipment necessary for a modern municipality than almost any other center of population. Nothing appears to be better settled than the fact that a population living under urban conditions, amidst the incessant activity and the excitement incident to city life, must, for the maintenance of its health and the perpetuation of desirable types of humanity, be afforded frequent opportunities for the relaxation of the strain which these conditions of life impose ; and these opportunities are best found in the means of escape into more natural and agreeable surroundings. Thereto must be added the requirements of the growing generations in the shape of ample playground facilities, situated within convenient distances of their homes, where sport and exercise in the open air may be obtained, developing the l>ody and quickening the senses, while removing children from other modes of amusement most detrimental physically and morally. Without resources of this kind the suburban movement of population, which has been hailed as presenting a com- plete solution to the tenement-house and other crying evils common to a dense population, would by no means prove the blessing anticipated. In fact, it would furnish only a very temporary benefit. Another aspect of the problem is one which is more strictly sanitative in character, and is furnished by the present conditions of the streams and other water spaces, to prevent the pollution of which prompt atten- tion and treatment are demanded. It would seem that the simplest, cheapest, and most effective method of dealing with this problem, and therefore the most practical, is furnished by combining therewith the recreative purposes which a stream and its shores can usually be made to serve in most abundant measure. 60 REPORT MASSACHUSETTS METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. One of the greatest obstacles, and tlie one perhaps the most difficult to be overcome, in the way of realizing, under the initiative of the respec- tive communities, the establishment of the desired open spaces throughout the district, is the fact that in most cases their resources are strained to the utmost extent to meet the demands imposed by their rapid increase in population. The average shortsightedness is too often such that people do not consider that the charms that make many of our suburbs the pleasant dwelling places that they now are — namely, the various rural attractions existing in their midst or in their near neighborhoods — must for the most part certainly disappear as with the growth of population the character of these localities becomes more and more urban. They are, however, liable some day to awake suddenly to the unpleasant consciousness that their charm has vanished. Local breathing spaces and the existence of pleasant features of natu- ral scenery in the neighborhood are really as essential to the moral and physical health of a community as the more absolutely utilitarian improvements that are usually given the precedence. Boston has until very lately grown in a most accidental and hap- hazard way. It has cost the city more to undo the mistakes perpetrated through the shortsightedness of former generations than it has to pro- vide for its legitimate growth. It is therefore time for it to grow intelligently and to proceed along carefully considered lines of develop- ment. These lines have already been laid down or are now being laid down in several important directions, and their extension in others is thereby made all the more desirable. If these sites are not now secured, their destruction at no remote day is sure. Even though in some of these instances the land might remain comparatively unoccupied for years to come, their present attractive character would be certain to disappear. Observations made 4n all parts of the metropolitan district lead to these conclusions. The land would in many cases, perhaps, remain cheap. But it should be remem- bered that cheap lands, when of a picturesque character, are costly to develop in the proper manner for residence purposes. Yet their very cheapness makes them a continuous temptation for improper and unde- sirable occupation, so that when at last thetime'came imperatively requir- ing something to be done for meeting the needs of the great population, the sites would nearly, if not quite, have lost all of their present attract- iveness. While the}’ might remain cheap, they would certainly have become nasty. That such a fate would be sure to overtake them is predicated by the experiences of Boston in the creation of some of the most essential features of its park system, the cost of which, through neglect to take up the problem in time, has been enormously increased. From estimates upon the averages of assessed valuations, it is reason- REPORT MASSACHUSETTS METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 6 1 able to conclude that an expenditure of $i, 000,000, together with what might be looked for from private beneficence, will secure the reservation of the most important of the sites that have been considered, amounting in the aggregate to several thousand acres. This expenditure is trivial in comparison with the cost of constructing a single fort or mortar battery on the shores of the bay, or a ship of war, or even a new court-house or city hall, while the benefits received are incomparable in comparison. Another class of reservations than those required more strictly for recreative purposes is comprised in those connected with questions of health and drainage. These are to lie regarded as perhaps first in pressing importance, but they involve problems of a more extended and intricate nature. A third class of public open spaces are those that mainly serve to augment and protect a water supply. It is often essential that a consid- erable tract of land should be taken for the purpose of guarding a water supply against pollution. The conditions under which such a tract must be maintained to serve best its purpose — free from human occupancy and kept in as natural a condition as possible, for the most part covered with a varied forest growth, and including storage basins of a lake-like character — are such as often to adapt the territory also to purposes of recreation. Of such a type is a large proportion of the Lynn woods, the beautiful territory of more than 2,000 acres reserved for public purposes by the joint action of the park and water boards of that city. In considering the stake which Boston itself has in the establishment of such a metropolitan park system, notwithstanding so much has been done within its own limits, the same factor of a community of interests appears. The city of New York a few years ago acquired one of its largest and finest park sites outside of its own limits, on the shore of Long Island Sound, in the town of Pelham, in Westchester County. London lias gone far beyond its bounds in establishing some of its recent parks, and the great reservation of Epping Forest was restored to public use through the exertions of the corporation of the city of London. Burnham Beeches, a favorite park of the people of the British metropolis, also established by the same corporation, lies much farther to the west- ward of London’s center of population than Framingham does from Boston. The number of persons drawn to Boston by its general advantages in the way of a beautiful and well cared for modern capital — its educational facilities, its music, its museums, its artistic character, and its beautiful suburban and rural surroundings — is enormous. The numbers increase extensively year by year, and this forms one of the chief elements in a city’s growth in desirable population and in its marvelously augment- ing prosperity. 62 REPORT MASSACHUSETTS METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. It is therefore essential that these elements of attractiveness should be maintained and enhanced, and their permanence assured. Many of these picturesque and beautiful sites in the surrounding country form features by no means slight among these elements of attractiveness. Hence it seems important that these various tracts should lie immediately acquired, for the reason that all of them can now be secured at com- paratively small cost, and all would lie for the common benefit of the metropolitan district. The interests of a city or town in this respect can therefore not be centered upon any particular locality within its own limits, except from the one sordid point of view of improving the assessable value of real estate. And even here this limitation can not be strictly made, for the desirability of a community as a place of residence, and therefore the value of real property there, is often determined, to a considerable extent, by the landscape features lying outside of its own limits. For instance, the town of Brookline, which is one of the most pros- perous and best-equipped communities in the Commonwealth, owes much of its attractiveness to the fact that the public pleasure grounds of Boston lie in its near neighborhood, including such features as Franklin Park, the Arnold Arboretum, the beautiful driveway around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, and Jamaica Pond and its shores — a system of improve- ments upon which Boston has expended millions of dollars, but which, enjoyed by the inhabitants of neighboring cities and towns without cost to themselves, form for the people of Brookline in particular favorite resorts in their .drives and rides. The city of Lynn, in its noble public forest, the “Lynn Woods,” shows a remarkable instance of what public spirit and a wise policy of municipal foresight can accomplish. This great woodland reservation of more than 2,000 acres serves the purpose of a grand public pleasure ground, incidentally to the protection of the water supply of the iity. This consists of three beautiful basins occupying the sites of former swamps, and having shores largely of rock and covered with a forest growth. Throughout the woods are many scenes of rare sylvan l>eauty, and the territory is made conveniently and comfortably accessible to the public from nearly all parts by a system of drives and walks. The drives were constructed partly by the water board and partly by the park depart- ment, and the foot paths by the latter at a very slight expense. The Lynn woods furnish a telling example of what can be easily and economically accomplished in other parts of the metropolitan district, supplying most valuable recreation grounds of a character that can be maintained at the minimum of expense. Striking a colonnaded plaza at the entrance of Memorial Bridge, cross- ing the Potomac thereon through the Pavilion Bridge above described, the Boulevard would course through the Virginia uplands, recrossing by REPORT MASSACHUSETTS METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 63 the present bridge to the overlooking heights at the north, with a view over the city to the river at the south, returning by the Soldiers’ Home or through other picturesque routes (with which the writer is unac- quainted) to the Capitol. The betterments that would follow upon the announcement of such projected delights would more than defray all cost, as has been the result from park improvements in other cities. They would bring to the Treasury a profit of income, as has been the fact in New York and Boston. The landscape architects, in their preliminary report, 1893, to the legis- lature of Massachusetts, wrote: For those who can not travel should be provided access to the best scenery fields, woods, ponds, riverside banks, valleys, and hills. Within ten years the development of trolley electric roads has brought suburban into urban districts. Outlying lands of cities have suddenly been practically added to them and the population is flowing to them for homes. Chevy Chase and other projected building properties will quickly be within the boundaries of Washington. The picturesque features on healthful elevations which were the basis of speculative enterprise will be lost in divisions and subdivisions of lots for sale, and present oppor- tunities to secure fractions of them for the delight of all the people will be barred. The wise, far-seeing policy that organized the Massachusetts Metro- politan Park Commission struck for existing chances to secure all lands to be wanted in the future. They have purchased thousands of acres in or adjacent to thirty-six cities and towns, leaving their elaborate im- provement for following generations. It is a model for imitation to Washington and all other cities of rapid growth. In Massachusetts these conditions had existed through years in rela- tion to a desired system of parks for many cities and towns. Finally legislation thoroughly and satisfactorily accomplished the task. It is a model in its most important provisions for Washington. The annexed slip is a brief statement of its history from commence- ment to finish: BEST PARK SYSTEM ON THE CONTINENT. [From the Rochester Post-Express.] The present year marks an important turning point in the history of the great park system in and around Boston. The year has long been looked forward to, and the report which the commissioners would make in it has been anticipated with the keenest interest. It was rendered on Saturday. The parks which are accessible from Boston are now generally recognized as, taken all in all, the most complete and varied in scope, the most systematically arranged and fully praiseworthy of any that are to be found about a municipality in the United States. They are unfinished; 64 REPORT MASSACHUSETTS METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. but with their promise in view, considering what has been done in a short time, and their popular origin, they are perhaps without rival anywhere as city parks. Strictly speaking, the Boston park system is a small matter ; while the metropolitan park system, in which are included the parkways and nearly all the great recreation and beauty spaces that one usually identifies in thought with the Boston parks, is a large matter. In 1892 three commissioners were appointed for one year to consider the advisability of laying out ample open spaces for the public in thirty- six towns and cities that surround Boston, and to report to the next legislature a comprehensive plan. Their reports, in 1893 and 1900, con- tain passages of such direct bearing upon the welfare of Washington that they are appended. The report of 1893 was accepted and a metropolitan park commission appointed with power to condemn lands to 1900, with annual appropri- ations upon their recommendations. These have always been granted. ‘Their report for 1900 states: The commissioners report that substantially all the lands for the system outlined by the general plan of 1S93 have not only been authorized, but have also been acquired, or are now in process of acquirement. From this time forward the problem will be, then, principally that of maintenance. The system is created. In detail, the acquisitions which complete the great task assigned them eight years ago, viz, 9,279 acres of forest, seashore, and river bank; also land for 17 miles of parkways, of which 12 have been constructed and opened for use. The board has now the duty as managing trustees to care for $ 10,000,000 worth of property to be handed on for constant improvement in beauty and usefulness. Their administration has given universal satisfaction to the people, who revel in the facilities for health and pleasure provided, although with assumption of continued expenditure in the future. [Extracts from Report of the Metropolitan Park Commission for 1900.] Each appropriation for this work has been made by the legislature after an exhaustive hearing upon a petition presented by citizens or municipalities of the district, and has been based upon the reports of the commission. While these appropriations have been general in form, and have left the commission free from instructions, the purpose for which they were made has been well understood and has been followed as far as possible. The result has been that the district, the legisla- ture, and the commission ha\e been in accord, and have adhered very closely to the general plan outlined at the beginning of the work in 1893. In brief, that plan contemplated preserving and making available a series of reservations which should include the best scenery of wood- land, river bank, and seashore within the metropolitan parks district, comprising Boston and the thirty-six other cities and towns in a radius of about 1 2 miles from the Statehouse. Within estimates based upon these appropriations the commission has thus far acquired about 9,279 acres of forest, seashore, and river bank; S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 3 5 65 No. 34. — Fischer’s desiprn for an ornamental portico in a park. 66 SIXTH aggrandizement. and has cared for and to some extent developed these reservations for the purposes for which they are held. There has also been acquired the land for 17 miles of parkways or boulevards, of which about 12 miles have been constructed and opened for use. The forest or woods reservations aggregate 7,393.82 acres. They have been selected for their intrinsic worth, rather than for their position in the district. River reservations on Charles, Neponset, and Mystic rivers aggregate 1,771.87 acres. Sixth Aggrandizement. Porticoes for shelter and for luxurious bromenade. . . . CENTEN NIAL -* • • • ♦»••••»« ft & AVENUE. y PAR \x \'C _CP.nTENN«Al — •— •— m:* • • • • ♦ ♦ M • M ♦ • • • • % 11 LU No. 35. — Ground plan of porticoes 30 feet wade in center of boulevard 200 feet wide, having on each side bridle paths 25 feet wide; roadway with walk 60 feet wide, shaded with four rows of trees. Centennial avenue is strongly advocated, with colonnaded porticoes at intervals for the comfort and pleasure of the people. First. For the main thoroughfares of pedestrians — at first in sections on Pennsylvania avenue and Sixteenth street. Ultimately the)’ would force the change of the north side to an arcaded Rue Rivoli a la Hauss- mann. Their popularity will demand them on the grand. Massachu- setts and Rhode Island avenues, giving ranges for luxurious promenade through the center to the limits of the city. Second. As accessories of boulevards and parks for exercise and pleasure. Third. In connection of and with grandiose structures which receive great numbers of people. These count but few of the many streets, but streets which frequently receive all of the population. Elsewhere trees will lie the first natural, as the Capitol is the first artificial, glory of Washington. Not long since one of a visiting committee of German ironmasters said: “Washington is the most beautiful city in the world. I looked down from the Washington Monument and saw a city in a park.” 68 PORTICOES OF ANCIENT NATIONS. Yet on Pennsylvania avenue trees are not a success, and to its increasing throngs will never be a shelter. Colonnades herein proposed will in parks be combined with trees for beauty. They will be a mutual enhancement in the landscape. They are a marked feature in the style of park treatment in Italy, the country that has inherited a classic taste. See Fig. 36, the introduction of a peristyle, that its exquisite proportions may be adorned with nature’s drapery. Pausanias, in his description of the architectural glories of Athens, elaborates upon the number and beauties of the porticoes, not only within the city, but outside thereof, and at its port, Piraeus. He says: “ From the gate to the Ceramicus there are several porticoes, the fronts of which No. 37. — The ruined porticoes of Palmyra. are adorned with brass figures of the most celebrated personages of both sexes.” He describes the decorations of the King’s Portico and others in detail. Adrian built a portico of Phrygian marble, with ceilings of alabaster. Pausanias mentions several porticoes besides those which lead to the Acropolis, “which have their fronts and ceilings of marble, and which, for ornament and magnitude of the stones, are superior to anything in existence.” Beneath these ample porticoes more than in the contracted grove of Plato were evolved the attainments of Greek civilization in art and literature — exemplars to their Roman conquerors and to all succeed- ing races. A study of the architectural grandeur and luxury which environed the ancient civilizations shows that porticoes were most extensive and important structures for the health and pleasure of the people in lati- tudes approximating that of Washington. Palmyra, Antioch, Athens, Rome, Carthage stimulated the vigor and PORTICOES OF ANCIENT CITIES. 69 cheer of their populations by the charms of sheltered colonnades for public resort. “The ruins of Palmyra, otherwise Tedmoor in the Desart’’ (Wood, London, 1753) has a frontispiece 4 feet in length, showing sections of a portico 4,000 feet in continuous range. Bulwer wrote, “ However modern civilization may in some things sur- pass the ancients, it is certainly not in luxury or splendor.’’ “ Amidst the delights of Susa, the very porticoes of whose palaces might enclose the limits of a city.” “Men stood awed and dazzled in the courts of that wonder of the world, that crown of the East, the marble magnifi- cence of Palmyra.” No. 38. — A colonnaded court. Palazzi di Roma. Pietro Ferrerio, 1635. A rich design for a colonnade around the Washington Monument; an esplanade to be reached by staircases for promenade. Around its frieze, in letters of gold bronze, should be: I.et it rise till it meet the sun in his coming; let the earliest light of morning gild it, and let parting day linger and play upon its summit. — Webstet . For the tablets other appropriate quotations. In covetous imitation of Grecian luxury, Augustus “made porticoes popular.” He covered the “whole campus with colonnades, under the shelter of which it was possible to cross the plain from one end to the other.” The example of Augustus was followed down to the very fall of the Empire, and even afterwards, as shown by the porticoes of Constan- tine, Gratian, Valentinian, Theodosius, and, lastly, by those which led from the zElian Bridge to St. Peter’s and from the Porta Ostiensis to St. Paul’s. “If these structures are considered as a system their importance in- creases tenfold. Beneath them citizens could walk in every season and at any hour under shelter from wind, rain, cold, and the heat of the sun.” yo ROMAN PORTICOKS. The poets, Martial especially, allude to the delight of enjoying the warmth of “sunshine in winter, while outsiders shivered in the blasts of the traniontana. The spaces between the columns were walled in No. 39. — Pompeii restored. Porticoes of the forum and temples. graceful designs with boxwood. At the end of the Empire it was possible to walk under shelter a distance of nearly 2 miles. The development of the twelve larger colonnades of the Campus Martius only amounts to No. 40.— Kestoration of the Palaces of the Ca;sarson the Palatine Hill, by Spadoni. archicologist at Rome, 1895. over 15,000 feet range (nearly 3 miles); the sheltered surface to 7 acres; total area, with central gardens, 25 acres; number of columns, about 2 , 000. ’ ’ ' Lanciani. Ruins and excavations of ancient Rome. ADVANTAGES OF PORTICOES. 71 Nor were porticoes the exclusive luxury of great capitals, but a com- mon provision for comfort of citizens in small provincial cities. Pompeii (of about 20,000 population) abounded with them. The great Forum and the courts of all the temples were surrounded by them. Considering their practical utility, they supplied shelter within inclo- sures of exquisite beauties at all times from rain, wind, heat, and sun glare impossible from trees above. A broad and even shade to the eyes from overhead from dazzling rays, a solid shelter from scorching sun blasts, are blessings only to be appreciated from experience. The wel- come arcades of southern France, Spain, Italy, Algiers, of Turin, Barce- lona, etc., are a delicious recollection to those who have retreated to them, with the writer, in Genoa, Rome, and Naples from a July sun at zenith. If notice be taken of parties in conversation in full sun force, it will be seen that unconsciously both have eyes nearly closed for relief. No. 41. Design for a portico oil the Boulevard, with solarium. None of the above-named cities have more occasion for such construc- tion than Washington. All compelled to frequent Pennsylvania avenue in the heated term know of its scorching atmosphere, with no protection, even of trees, from the heat absorbed by and radiating from its bricks and melting asphalt. Let an experimental 500 feet be built on the avenue, 25 feet wide on either side, and the popularity of the conception will be demonstrated in use. The advantages of porticoes are argued thus far solely as an expedient for the warm seasons. They are almost as fully to be adduced for all seasons of the year. The passage from Martial above quoted tells of their “delight of enjoying therein in Rome the warmth of sunshine while outsiders shivered.” By defense against winds from the cold quarters they became Portlcl |rl Pav»cl|or», 72 MODERN ARCADES AND COLONNADES. “solaria” — -sun parlors.' These were an almost universal charm of Roman life — provided with defense from the alpine and coast winds in the porticoes, with openings toward the sun, but with the same appliances upon the house tops for domestic control of cold or heat. The design annexed (p. 71) supplies above a portico a “solarium.” The exposures to cold winds are to be defended by iron and glass, while open to the warmth of the southern sun. What beneficence to supply to invalids such retreats in the seasons of harsh winds, where they may bask in sunlight in open air above the barren tree tops! No. 42. — Arcades and colonnades in Bologna. No city in the world is planned for such superb utilization of public porticoes as Washington by its avenues of extraordinary width, consid- ering the light demands upon them for the movement of traffic. If commenced, they will have such development as to make Washington sui generis a modern Rome, Athens, or Palmyra — monumental in public porticoes, foci of popular comfort and pleasure. 'The sun parlor is now an essential provision in large high-class modern hotels. The writer has satisfaction in his impression that its first appearance was in the Casa Monica, St. Augustine, 1889 (vide Part II, fig. 40), in a “Sala del Sol” — Hall of the Sun. AN EXECUTIVE AVENUE. 73 Seventh Aggrandizement. Clearance of Sixteenth street from shanties, tumble-down stables, etc . — Its adornment as a bisecting boulevatd — Its name to be Executive Avtnue. The spacious streets of Washington, lovely in verdure at seasons, are wretchedly marred by rookeries, etc., intermingled with splendid dwell- ings. There is no prospect of relief from this hideousness except by legis- lative compulsion. On Sixteenth street, one of the most important and elegant avenues, they have been undisturbed for thirty or forty years. The annexed views (p. 74) were taken on the 28th of March, 1900, on the east and west sides of Sixteenth street, five blocks from the White House. They are on the central road to the hills and parks at the north. They are specimens of what exist throughout the city commin- gled with the finest residences. Many of them were primitive hovels on the land, and have been unchanged, except by dilapidation. Tnere is no certainty of change with any of them, but probability of permanence with many. Instances are known where such deformities have been actually built in malice against neighbors or for compulsion to force an exorbitant price in sale. Nothing can be done to suppress such offensiveness, discouraging to elegant improvements and adverse to the values of adjacent estates, except through power of condemnation. Such shanty ism is an aggra- vated nuisance, for it adds to conspicuous deformities objectionable occupation. 1 The same public right that condemns real estate incon- gruous with a park entrance plainly exists with reference to such properties on grand avenues. “The superiority of the rights of the public over the ownership of individuals is a right recognized by the courts as existent and is constantly enforced by judicial decree.” It is the impossibility of reaching avaricious, obstinate single owners, waiting for a sharp opportunity, that holds back improvement. In con- demnation owners would receive only their present value, and justly, for they would then realize a great advance through the investments of others. There are various expedients for adornment of vacant lots at small expense. Frequently neighborhood syndicates would agree in advance to take the land at the price of condemnation and make prescribed improvements. ‘The writer would by no means imply that all such humble dwellings are objec- tionable in their occupation. Coming from the North, he has observed with pleasure the neatness and thrift of many of the colored population and their unob- trusive bearing on the streets and in the street cars. There are many colored people to be preferred as neighbors in cities to many white folks of their population. Sensible people among the poor would assist public improvements the enjoyment of which they could share in common with all. Nos. 43-44.— Views at L and M streets, on Sixteenth street, April, 1900. By favor of Mr. L. C. Handy, photographer for departments, Washington, PLAYSTEADS AND PLAYGROUNDS. 75 Associations of adjacent owners might improve vacant lots for play- steads for small children, for tennis courts, ornamental grounds with bowers, etc., for their members. There is not sufficient provision in cities for infants and young chil- dren. One often exclaims, “Poor little things!” when they are seen in their ornate carriages in a wealth of finery, but perchance with their faces in the sun — intense heat reflected around them from a hard gravel walk — while the maids hold a conversazione in the shade. Listen to an official report to the Metropolitan Park Commission of Massachusetts. F. L. Olmsted and Charles Eliot, landscape architects, wrote: “Agreeable and numerous open-air nurseries and playgrounds for small children are perhaps more necessary than the broad gravel ways for adults. Every crowded neighborhood ought to be provided with a place removed from the paved streets, in which mothers, babies, and small children may find apartments to rest, sleep, and play in the open air.” They did not add in description what the)' provided, viz, covered ' seats in playgrounds and seats under roof in playsteads, as in the parks of Boston. (See Fig. 48.) Note the sand beds, boxed and fenced. If the little ones could be delivered occasionally from their lace adornment — (not always, by any means! for their loveliness could not be spared entirely from amid the flowers of the parks) — that they could disport in loose frocks in the sand as on the seashore, it would be a gain to their health and happiness, as likewise in consequence for their mothers. Vacant lots could be thus utilized. The front line could be screened in verdure, adding beauty to the vicinity. Construct temporary frames as screen facades in architectural forms, in sections' — to be easily transferred elsewhere — cover them with metal lathing and that with cement concrete. Plant the Ampelopsis veitchii* 1 This expedient solves the difficulty lately debated in the Star of one-storv stores on Pennsylvania avenue, rendering excessive height of new constructions still more prominent. Screen facades of concrete of rich design can he built at trifling expense. They would require no repair; could be sold for use repeatedly if made in sections. It is a trifling matter to add reveals of cornices and window frames, or still more cheaply, they can be simulated with shadows and perspective by the brush, as is frequently done in Germany for temporary enrichment. V. Figs. 45, 46, 47. 2 Washington has not enough appreciated this beautiful and wonderful climber. There are some proud effects with it on churches and dwellings to be remarked — instance in the Grecian fajade on the south of Farragut square. Its nature is the reverse of the dangling Virginia creeper or woodbine. That grows rapidly; is not closely self-clinging; opens to the wind with rain and then covers the dampness from the sun; nurtures an especially offensive worm. The ampelopsis, by its mar- velous microscopic pad feet as suckers, draws dampness from the walls into the vine. It overlaps closely with its leaves like the scales of armor, protecting from storms. It takes the most graceful pendency of all foliage. It is superb in color, especially gorgeous in autumn. It is hard)', needing no care; long lived, covering great areas. For city rusticity it is sui generis. See page 85 and Addenda. 76 VERDANT SCREEN FACADES. No. 45 is a design which can be endlessly varied for a screen front. It is in movable sections braced from the rear by a scaffold ascending to the balcony, for life in the open air, which Americans have not learned to enjoy like Europeans. The ampclopsis is planted at the base. No. 46 is the tower of Villa Zorayda, to which the ivy climbed in three years. Professor Northrop used a slide of it in his lectures on Village Improvement as a gem of nature’s adornment. -1 No. 47 is of the Hotel Granada, St. Augustine. The first story is of solid concrete. The second and third stories are of concrete in metal lathing % inch in thickness. PLAYSTEADS AND PLAYGROUNDS. 77 (Japanese or Boston ivy), and in two or three years its graceful pendency would feast the eye more than the adjoining dull, hard, brick front of the elaborate dwelling. The annexed illustrations demonstrate the practicability of these sug- gestions. Behind such screens on the avenues of Washington let the babies rollic. Parents and friends will seek them to admire more than on the bare walks or even the grass of the parks (if permitted there). There was an unlettered country maiden who had a soul with Nature. Her heart in joyousness frisked with the lambs. Explanation of her happiness requested, she said: “It is delightsome to go into the fields when they are green, and see the young lambs bound, rebound, and tettary-bound, coz it’s Natar capurin' An appeal to parents to help their little ones join in “ Natur’s capurin’ ’’ is not amiss in the lofty theme of these papers. They aim at the good and happiness of the people — all who count as the population of Washington, and the present count of the census will begin with the babies. EXTRACT FROM REPORT OF MASSACHUSETTS METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION.' ‘ ‘ The subject of smaller open spaces for local playgrounds or ‘ ‘ breath- ing spots,” as they are appropriately called, is one so different in its nature as to require a separate consideration and a different method of treatment. Being more of local concern, it is hardly to be expected that they should be provided for by the same means proposed for a general system of metropolitan parks, the various features of which are of moment to the entire community. “It is desirable that every well-inhabited section of the metropolitan district should have one of these local pleasure grounds within easy reach, so that without difficulty women and children can resort thither from their homes without the least danger of fatigue. ‘ ‘ Excellent examples, however, of what such local pleasure grounds should be — and, indeed, perhaps the best of their kind in the world, in many respects — are some of the new grounds that haye been created by the park department of the city ; for instance, the Cliarlesbank, the Playstead of Franklin Park, and the new playgrounds now under con- struction at Charlestown, East Boston, and in connection with the Marine Park at South Boston. “ The Cliarlesbank may be cited as an ideal pleasure ground of its sort, providing for the wants of a densely populated neighborhood in a remarkably varied way, giving opportunities for the restful enjoyment of the fresh air in the summer cooled by the waters of the river, for beholding the very interesting spectacle of varied aquatic life, for the 78 PLAYSTEAD AND PLAYGROUND IN BOSTON. No. 48.— Plan of women’s gymnasium and children’s playstead in Boston-covered seats before the turf playground for little girls; sand courts, swings, etc. tf/l pL GYMNASIUM — CIIARLKSBANK, BOSTON 79 No. 49. — Park system of Boston — girls’ gymnasium, Charlesbank. No. 50. — Park system of Boston — boys’ gymnasium, Charlesbank 80 GYMNASIUM— CHARLESBANK, BOSTON. PLAYSTEAD — CHARLESBANK, BOSTON. 8l No. 51.— Park system of Boston— playstead, Cliarlesbank. 82 OUTDOOR PLEASURES. athletic recreation of both sexes in first-class outdoor gymnasiums, boat- ing on the river, provision for the enjoyment of little children and infants and for taking care of them while their mothers are at work. An institution of this kind is one great remedy for the ills of city life which some of our reformers have seen in it. Indeed, it would lie well to consider, in the antitenement-house agitation, that the suburban movement has already converted the outlying sections very extensively into tenement-house regions. “The suitable establishment of local pleasure grounds is a subject that is occupying much attention in other parts of the world. In England, for instance, the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, of London, under the chairmanship of the Earl of Meath, has performed invaluable sen-ice in promoting the establishment of open spaces, and information concerning this work is constantly being sought from various parts of the world. These achievements include the establishment of new play- grounds, the improvement of old ones, the planting of trees, the erec- tion of fountains, contributions toward gymnasiums, etc. Casually has occurred mention of open-air life facilities. We return to add some words in urgency of it in a paper at Saratoga, 1894. They are as applicable in the gentle climate of Washington for a much longer period. The European hotel system is advocated for the large hotels in Saratoga, not only from the economies accruing to themselves and their patrons, but because it would supply the charming feature of life abroad — meals in open air. There breakfast and lunch in a garden, on a boulevard, a terrace, or a balcony are the rule, not only in inns and restaurants, but in domestic life. In continental countries, especially in Germany, the pavilion, with its table planted upon the angle of the little home garden overlooking the street, appears whenever possible. Phillips Brooks wrote as follows : “ Bad-Gastein, September 2, 1883. “To Gertie : “ Everybody here eats his breakfast, luncheon, and dinner out of doors. “I like it and think I shall do so myself when I get home. “ So when you come to breakfast we will have our table out on the grass plot in Newbury street, and Katie shall bring us our beefsteak there. Will it not make the children stare as they go by to school? We’ll toss the crumbs to the robins.” The restaurant of the Art Museum in New York is to have a section in open air. Saratoga will not be a Spa in the full significance of the term until as in Spa of Belgium, which gave its name to others, the open-air restaurant in a pavilion or a garden, the economical renting of a room with opportunity to order coffee and a roll only at their fair worth, will be enticements of city denizens from their close-walled quarters. Still more and for longer terms should out door life be stimulated in Washington. Proper park treatment will develop it. Again, when by condemnation the rubbishy lots shall be within control, another method of ornamentation with earning of income would be to construct partial buildings; for instance, two-story apartment flats with large rooms, popular for having but one staircase. Par- FOLIAGE OX CONCRETE. 83 tition walls could be built of materials and dimensions required by law for additions to three or four stories at pleasure. The front could be made of concrete plaster on metal lathing with iron studs, carrying an inner wall of the same. The air space would give even temperature and the whole would be fireproof. The third story could be carried up with a false front of handsome design, braced from the inside walls. The effect would be precisely that of a stone front. When covered with the Ampelopsis veitchii the inexpensive construc- tion would vie with many of great cost in desirableness for use and exter- nal beauty. All foundations and wall work would be on the building regulations, so that superstructures could utilize them without loss. No. 49. — A house of cement concrete. Progress Publishing Company, New York. The introduction of concrete for temporary use would surely lead to its general adoption. There is too much brickwork in Washington — too much of its insignificance as a material and of its dull monotony of color. It is a welcome progress — the introduction of light brick; but their glazed surface is too smooth for the clinging toes of the ampelopsis. Verdure — incomparable in the world — “A wide expanse of living verdure flowing round it like a sea” (Motley) — enwrapping the arbored streets of Washington, should be the fame of its natural adornment. Concrete has precisely the grained surface of stone that the vine loves as a support. Most opportunely is received at this writing an illustration of its appli- cation on the largest scale and perhaps the most conspicuous structure in 84 FLORAL DECORATION* IX EUROPE. the United States for the hiding of old brick walls and the substitution of desirable tone in color. New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company, Grand Central Station, . New York , April iS, 1900. Dear Sir: In answer to your questions regarding the concrete facing on the ex- terior of the Grand Central Station, which has been referred to me by Mr. George H. Daniels, general passenger agent, I would say: ( 1 ) The concrete facing of the lower stories was cast in blocks, on the premises, from models made originally from a cut-stone model, and averaging 18 by 30 inches in size. The upper stories were covered with cement stucco applied directly to the rough brick. (2) One color only has been used, and that the natural color of light-colored Portland cement and white sand. (3) The blocks are iX inches in thickness. ( 4 ! The whole building has been refaced on the street fronts. (5) It was done to give the whole building a surface uniform in color and mate- rial, inasmuch as three new stories had been built above the three old. (6) I regret that I have no photographs of the work. I am yours, very truly, \V. J. WiLGUS. Mr. Franklin W. Smith, Halls of the Ancients, Washington, D. C. It will not be long before this example will strike a contagion in Washington, and dull old brick fronts will be enlivened. I11 future it will be better to build them cheerfully at the outset at lessexpense, after Roman examples and modern European following — cheap brick walls with coarse joints faced with Portland cement concrete. Poor mortar used at times formerly, going to ruin, has given such practice a bad name. It has no relation to cement concrete. It is within the resources of all residents of comely houses in Wash- ington to add greatly to their exterior attractions by window displays of flowers. Observers of European life agree that with those nations there is a greater love of flowers than with Americans. It is more the fact with English, Germans, and Russians. Despite London’s murky atmos- phere in autumn, not only the windows of Belgravia, but through the encouragement of prizes for the best window boxes in the poorer dis- tricts, they are also brightened with geraniums, stocks, and nasturtiums. The short winters of Washington are an encouragement to this refin- ing home industry. In icy Russia houses have triple windows. The space between the inner two sashes is made a Wardian case, and Lyco- podia, the Maranta Zebrina, etc., fill the casement with verdure, wanting very little care. In dull Edinburg rich displaj-s of foliage are made gay with the life and song of aviaries. Public spirit once awakened, the loss of foliage in the winter on the avenues may be largely and delight- fully compensated by household enterprise. Cyclamen alone will make a lovely exhibit of bloom throughout the winter. This topic will lie profitable agitation at the Ladies’ Club for promotion of contributory charms in aggrandizement of Washiueton. RUSTIC AND FLORAL DECORATION. 85 The above suggestions for the adornment of Sixteenth street as Executive avenue are plainly applicable to all streets of Washington. One successful example would be contagious and lead to general im- provement. 1 The following plate of the house of Mrs. S. S. Cox was taken by Mr. Handy, May 12, 1900. For other views of houses adjacent, see Addenda. House owned by Mrs. S. S. Cox— Dupont Circle. •See Addenda No. 2, Municipal .-Esthetics, for able disquisition on tlie above topics. 86 A PARK ISTORIA Eighth Aggrandizement. The Park Istoria — sites ample for the Smithsonian Institution , National Museum , and many public buildings. Presuming upon a condemnation of the 220 acres which, it has been shown, would be a most desirable acquisition at a low price, a study of its use in connection with the National Galleries reveals other important advantages that would result. The prospectus of 1891 proposed that it should be taken for a Park Istoria. Allowing 60 acres (including the Observatory lot) for the National Galleries, there would remain 160 acres for other purposes. By filling on the line of B street southward to Centennial avenue pro- posed, there would be acquired 120 acres additional, nearly 350 acres in a solid block. The plan annexed is an attractive appropriation of a portion of it, leaving a great area for future public buildings. “The capital has always deplored” the invasion of the park, accord- ing to the Star, for the structures that followed the first Norman group for the Smithsonian. “The Department of Agriculture, the forbidding Medical Museum, the Fish Commission, doomed to early removal, were mistakes. ’ ’ It would be a great and much-needed advance for the usefulness of the National Museum if the land could be obtained and enough assigned for its removal thereto with the enlargement demanded. Its brick factory-like construction is unartistic — unsightly in a park. Expendi- ture is now being made for additions that can be only temporary. It has vast material stored for lack of room. It covers now 2 Vs acres. It will demand 10 acres for present increase and prospective growth. Suggestion: Move the institution to the Park (to be) Istoria; nearly all lartitious, 2 to 8 times that number. w 2 S 3* w 3 — n> • t-r >— • g » w a o « rt> 3- i£ 2 W f“P O _ ft s ~ a ra c o < o P S 71 P • /1 P 8 3 -? ? S. s -7 a 3 p ^ s p n !■* ft r*- o _ C S' 3 7 q P S' 55* p P - C/5 ft ^ $ | 2 rT c O w S* 3 “ 3 3 p a o’ rr 0 ^ c /5 -t c/5 jrt p »-t P ft- a> p to O Cn p O P C/5 ^ ft r* P ^ f*- ^ 71 ft ft s* p o O 3 P — -! 3 JQ 3 . ft 3 3 yq ft 1/1 ft' o X ^ ft erg *-•* ft 71 P O 3 p s. E - fT X 3. m tT ^ 71 $ | § *' 71 P 71 a >*3 Ps PJ ft tZ 2 ~ O 1 No. 53-DESIGN FOR ONE SIDE OF A QUADRANGLE FOR THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 88 DESIGN* FOR COMBINATION HALLS. its materials can be utilized — brick, glass, etc.; add its area to the Mall. It would offset the space for the boulevard, although that does not detract from its rural aspect. Copy for the new structure the Spanish style of Stanford University — plain surfaces with ornamentation about gateways only — rich, arresting admiration because, like a mosaic or a painting, it is single, not repeated. Let it be principally on one floor, with height ample for galleries. Build of concrete with hollow walls, with heavy walls to carry additions. Let the Ampelopsis drape its stone surfaces and hang from its roofs and towers. This can all be accomplished inexpensively compared with usual Government structures, using present material, for $400,000 to $500,000, the amount spent on the present insufficient building. The large area on a level above proposed for cheapness of construc- tion and facility of display revives the suggestion hereinbefore made of the automatic, slowly moving seats for visitors, avoiding all fatigue. Visits to museums have always been exhaustive to such a degree as to A THICKET OF OLOGIES. 89 < < y y prevent study in comfort. By seats moving gently from point to point, prolonged visits would lie delightful for old or young, rather than a dread. If the Museum were adjacent to the Galleries one power house could provide this great luxury for all their extent. A most important argument for the removal of the Museum, as above proposed, is that the institution would naturally supplement and coincide with the educational purposes of the Galleries of History and Art. The National Museum, under administration of the Smithsonian Institution, has its own important and distinctive field. To show how completely dis- tinct its useful fields of study and illustration are from the proposed National Galleries, the following statement is cpxoted from the late Presi- dent J. C. Welling, LL.I)., of the Columbian University, Washington: ‘ ‘ The National Museum has twenty-two distinct scientific departments under its jurisdiction: The departments of comparative anatomy, of mammals, of birds, of reptiles, of fishes, of mollusks, of insects, of marine invertebrates, of plants, of fossil vertebrates, of Paleozoic fossil inverte- brates, of Mesozoic fossil invertebrates, of Cenozoic fossil invertebrates, of fossil plants, of geology and petrology, of mineralogy, of metallurgy and mining, of prehistoric arclueology, of ethnology, of oriental antiquities, of American aboriginal pottery, of arts and industries, comprising under these last-named heads numismatics, graphic arts, foods, textiles, fisheries, historical relics, materia medica, naval architecture, history of transporta- tion, etc. President Gilman summarizes them as “a thicket of ologies. ” ‘ ‘ Each of these departments is placed under a curator, and is provided with the necessary appliances for original research; and these appliances are yearly increasing in completeness and efficiency.” It will be noticed that these make not the least approach to the field of knowledge proposed for cultivation by the Galleries of Ancient History and Art. They relate to explanations of modern science, and the}' draw exclusively from the natural sciences as exploited on the American continent; mechanical and scientific attainments of modern times. To pursue them indefatigablv is the nobly important technical work of the Smithsonian Institution. American archaeology is its specialty. For objective instruction in these departments it has drawn multitudes of objects, single specimens from nature and the practical arts. The National Museum perfectly illustrates the definition of its late Professor Goode, ‘‘a collection of instructive labels, each illustrated by a well- selected specimen.” Were the able professor living to judge of the scheme of the National Galleries, he would gladly give it welcome as fulfilling his description of the want (vide Part I, p. 4) ‘‘for the people’s museum of the future, much more than a house full of specimens in glass cases; a house full of ideas; the territory lxetween science and art; the natural history of cult or civilization of man, his ideas and achievements, which museums have not yet learned to partition.” go DWELLINGS OF MANKIND — GARNIER. Collateral with the above specialties of great popular interest would be a reproduction of examples of the habitations of men in all ages. The idea was original with Viollet le Due for the exposition of 1889, No. 55. — Gamier. A Roman house. Paris, 1889. and was executed by Monsieur Gamier, architect of the National Opera, Paris. They were among the very most prominent attractions of the fair. Those were of temporary construction. For a permanent institution they would be upon a larger scale and No. 56. — Gamier. A Byzantine house. Paris, 1889. substantially built. They should have a central avenue directly to the via sacra of the Galleries. They could serve both to exhibit the domestic environment of the different nations, and also serve as resi- dences for the staff of administration. DWELLINGS OF MANKIND — GARNIER 9r No. 57. — F. W. Smith, architect. Saracenic design. Evans, pinxt. KM >1 I ■W' 1 ' L No. 58. — An original Chinese house. Paris, 1879. 92 A NATIONAL AVENUE — HOMES OF THE STATES. Speaker Reed, after an explanation of the National Galleries enterprise in the House of Pansa, Saratoga Springs, in 1896, with an addition of the Park Istoria for modern illustrations, gave to both superlative com- mendation (since written, Part I) and said that “the entire tract should be taken at once by the Government.” Annexed are two of Garnier’s designs, Roman, Byzantine, a Saracenic by the author, and an original Chinese, presenting the striking contrasts of oriental and occidental styles. The plan shows sites on Seventeenth street, adjacent to the State Department, for public buildings, and other large areas for future demand. V. page 103. Ninth Aggrandizement. A National Avenue the northern boundary of the Park Istoria— five thou- sand feet in length , ranged with forty-five Homes of the States. For this admirable suggestion credit is due to a published letter ' pro- posing that the buildings of the States in Chicago be rebuilt substantially in Washington as their respective ownership. The frontage would be assigned proportionately to their population, and in the order of their accession to the Union. For the United States to give the lots would be simply an exact division of the people’s property to themselves. Now, in the supposed possession by Government of the line between E and P' streets the most admirable opportunity is provided for realizing the happy thought. The tract would measure 5,000 feet in length by, say, 250 feet in depth. All the houses built by the States at Chicago are here pictured. Of course sites would l>e assigned proportionally to all States and Territories. The range of 5,000 feet would be ample for all. Let it be apportioned in frontage according to the different States for welcome resorts of their citizens in Washington. If sold the cost of the northern tract, 5,000 by 250 feet, along the whole line of the Gallery tract would return to the United States Treasury. Here the natural questions would rise, “ For what use? What would they do with them?” Imagine the Galleries in the frontispiece built along the avenue. Notice crowds that come now, frequently, of excursionists from Brook- lyn, Ohio, and elsewhere to Washington. Note particularly that they are teachers, students at normal schools who are to become teachers, or advanced pupils. They come less for diversion than for the acquisition of knowledge. Instances are cited: During the past season senior classes of the three great normal schools of Pennsylvania came to Wash- ington with their principals. The first one had about made a round of public sights before they had heard of the Halls of the Ancients. The}' did hear of them just in time to rush in the last evening of their 1 The writer’s name was sought in vain by the author. HOMES OF THE STATES ON NATIONAL AVENUE, WASHINGTON. 93 •— 5 ° feet. No. 63.— Massachusetts— 150 feet. No. 64.— Maryland— 75 feet. HOMES OF THE STATES ON NATIONAL AVENUE. WASHINGTON. 94 No. 6S.— Vermont— 50 feet. No. 69.— Kentucky— 100 feet. No. 70.— Ohio— 175 feet. HOMES OF THE STATES OX NATIONAL AVENUE, WASHINGTON. No. 74. — Missouri — 75 feet. No. 75. — Arkansas — 75 feet. No. 76. — Michigan — 125 feet. HOMES OF THE STATES ON NATIONAL AVENUE, WASHINGTON. No. 80.— Wisconsin— 75 feet. No. 81. — California — 75 feet. No. tj*. — Minnesota — 100 feet. HOMES OF THE STATES ON NATIONAL AVENUE, WASHINGTON. 7 97 No. 86.— Colorado— 75 feet. No. 87.— South Dakota— 50 feet. No. 88.— North Dakota— 50 feet. HOMES OF THE STATES ON NATIONAL AVENUE, WASHINGTON. No. 92. — Utah — 50 feet. No. 93. — Joint Territorial, Ariz., N. Me*., Okla. — 75 feet. No. 94. — The caravels of Columbus at Chicago. A NATIONAL AVENUE — HOMES OF TIIE STATES. 99 No. 95. — New York— 225 feet. 4 * .3ui No. 96. — Illinois — 200 feet. Sites assigned in order (from Seventeenth street westward) of their accession to the Union. Areas in width of frontage according to ratio of population. IOO SCHOOLS IN THE HALLS OF THE ANCIENTS. Stay. Their visit was of superlative satisfaction. Witness the follow- ing letters: State Normal School, Bloomsburg , Pa . , January 6, /goo. Sir: The visit a large number of our students made to the Halls of the Ancients, on the occasion of our recent excursion to your city, has left a pleasant and valuable memory with them. It is much talked of as one of the best incidents of our excur- sion. You will see us again next year. Very truly, j. p. Welsh, JYincipal. Mr. Franklin W. Smith, Washington, I). C. First Pennsylvania State Normal School, December /j, iSgg. Dear Mr. Smith: Your favor of the 9th instant is received. Those of us who visited the Halls of the Ancients were delighted with the evening we spent there. Our school will not have another excursion to Washington before next fall, but I feel sure that when we visit Washington again the Halls of the Ancients will be in our itinerary. We will all want to spend a full evening with you. Very truly, yours, Mr. Franklin W. Smith, Washington , D. C. J. W. Lansinger. Washington College (Young Ladies), Washington, D. C., January j/, /goo. My Dear Sir: Permit me to give my unreserved indorsement to the Halls of the Ancients. Educationally this is one of the most interesting and attractive places in or about the national capital. Our teachers find frequent occasion to visit the Halls, and from these visits declare inspiration and profit derived. More than once have our young ladies been delighted with an evening in these Halls. Object lessons, lessons in history, art, architecture, etc., received here can not be overestimated. We seem to see and feel and breathe with the ancients as the scenes of these magnificent Halls are looked upon and the accompanying superb lectures are heard. Very sincerely, yours, F. MENEFEE. Mr. Franklin W. Smith. Again, last week, a private school returned, after many previous visits. Three of the young ladies returned for information. They wanted to know the size of the openings for entrance into the central vault of the great Pyramid, for their school journal. These are incidents illustrative and prophetic. The)' are recalled as a direct answer to the question, “ What will the States want of homes in Washington?” Fig., p. 29, Part I, was taken while the curator of the Halls was in Russia, in 1898, by the agent of the Government, expressly for the Paris Exposition. A class from the Washington school is at study in the Roman House. Another was taken of a class in the Assyrian A SCHOOL AT STUDY IN THE ASSYRIAN THRONE ROOM. IOI Hall (Fig. 94). Two thousand can circulate for study at a time in the Halls of the Ancients. They have been built as “ a shadow of good things to come.” Imagine the eight courts, each covering with the Galleries about 6 acres of ground. Imagine each with a circuit of about 3,000 feet range of historical paintings. One in the Halls of Roman History is 50 feet in length and three are 10 feet, making in all 80 feet. Imagine the courts filled with the constructions of each nationality as hereinbefore pictured and described. When this picture is materialized the hundreds of excursionists will be thousands. How can they receive the instruction they seek? This plan for homes of the States relieves the scheme of the Galleries No. 9’/. — Class from Washington High School at study in the Assyrian Throne Room of the Halls of the Ancients. Photo, for the United States educational exhibit at the Paris Exposition of 1900. of possibly the chief prospective objection at debate in Congress, viz, How is the institution to be maintained in equipment of instructors? To be fully effective in its aim, the text-book must be unfolded and illumined by speaking interpreters. It may be argued that personal instruction is not the task of the General Government. It has supplied great material in Washington for analysis and elucidation by eminent scholarship. It does not undertake to expound it to the people. Pre- cisely this will be the status of the National Galleries of History and Art — a vast Institute of Illustration. Upon their scale no repetition elsewhere can be anticipated. There is but one place for them — the capital. 102 HOMES OF THE STATES. Let them be erected under the auspices of the General Government, aided it may be by contributions from the States and doubtless more largely by private liberality. Let them be guarded and kept in condi- tion by the authorities of the metropolis which is enriched by their pos- session, who will open their doors to the world, for Europe will then come to America for lessons, as the School of Fine Arts in Paris sends its pupils to the Prix de Rome, and as classic students of England, France, Germany, and the United States go for two years to their respective schools in Athens. The United States will have no further expense or care in provision for the people than with the present National Museum — simply to open its doors to them. Let the States send their instructors to meet their people at the gates. Then the principle of education of the people by the people will lie perfectly applied, for they have sent in advance their chosen instructors. Teachers, scholars, all, will gather fruits raised by their own gardeners and enjoy them in the comfort of their own delightful pavilions. The National Avenue of State Homes over against the Galleries will be the consummation of their value and beneficence. There will be 45 reading rooms — more with more States. At an average of 200 seats in each home, 10,000 visitors will have at a time luxurious rest and accommodation. Within ten years 10,000 at a time will demand it. They come by hundreds now to see the Library as a new wonder. When educational trains are organized by law (as parliamentary trains for the workpeople were in England) more than ever all roads will lead to Washington, as anciently to Rome. The 40 acres of galleries and courts under cover or inclosed will give 25 square feet each to the 10,000 who will throng them at inaugurations. Again, the students, when curiosity has wakened inquiry for knowl- edge eager to be satisfied at once, will need reference books. The Congressional Library will be a mile away. Its one or two hundred readers might have them in use. At hand, in the Homes, there would be 45 sets complete, to be used of right by those who are fractionally their owners. There will be 45 reading and writing rooms; 45 sets of home news- papers; 45 bureaus of information, and halls of social converse and business appointment. Visitors now come to see the new Library. They will come to stay in the Galleries. The necessity is apparent for extensive, comfortable, and economical accommodations for comers to the Galleries for prolonged stay in vaca- tion. Open amphitheaters are provided for them in the courts. Adjacent open-air and covered restaurants and apartments would be demanded. The design, Fig. 99, is well adapted for such use. k>3 G, American Galleries, with Hall of Fame, on the Potomac; H, I, J, K, L, M, N.O, galleries and courts of history and art. 1 he via sacra ascends the Acropolis, adjoining on the east, it passes through the avenue of the dwellings of mankind, which is between large areas for the Smithsonian or other institutions. At the east, opposite the Executive grounds, are large blocks for public buildings. Southward ioo acres can be raised to the same grade from the flats. A design lor a National Pavilion, adjacent to Homes of the States on National avenue, to contain restaurants, open-air and covered, halls, apartments, and a roof garden. It is largely of glass, with casements to be closed for warmth in winter and open for pure air in summer through Venetian blinds. 104 HOMES OF THE STATES. No. 99— A NATIONAL PAVILION. TENTH AGGRANDIZEMENT. 105 What does this promise for Washington? What — to house and feed them ? 1 A far more elevating inquiry is, What does this picture mean for an increase of knowledge throughout our country and of benefit in result? What for fireside reports on the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific, and the Kennebec of the wonders not only of modern Washington, but of Rome, Athens, and Palmyra? These considerations make reasonable the expectation that States will contribute to the Galleries. The writer has confidence that his own, Massachusetts, will set the example, as she has so effectively for the universal establishment of town libraries . 2 Tenth Aggrandizement. Protection and beauty for the banks of the Potomac — terraces and river boulevards. Extracts to follow, from reports of the Massachusetts Metropolitan Board of Park Commissioners, with map appended, will demonstrate the crucial importance of protection of the banks of the Potomac River as affecting the health and lives of the population of Washington. Their action for this imperative necessity has been combined with delightful effects of rural beauty. Compulsion following the late repulsive experience of muddy drinking water has already forced consideration of the problems involved. But there is a field for enterprise with abundant compensation beyond the sanitary measures demanded. The flowing river must have its banks adorned. It must be made a charm beyond a mere geographical fact. It must be terraced with vines and shrubbery. On hillsides like those of the Rhine ownership of its banks must pass to Government control, and they must be bordered with shaded boulevards. (See chart from Park Commission of Massachusetts, showing their control by con- demnation of the banks of the Mystic River that flows into Boston har- bor. They likewise condemned the banks of Charles River. ' It is repellent to place in such connection the mercenary advantages that would result. We will leave to the financier and investor calculations as to the pecuniarv result to real-estate owners in Washington, and holders of securities upon railroads diverging therefrom, when Washington shall have become “both the Berlin and Paris of America,” in its attraction thither of thousands of resident scholars and students by the unequaled advantages of its National Galleries when many more thousands shall flow to it from all sections of the country, as the richest center of the world for practical and diversified object illustration. Transportation companies, land holders, tradesmen may readily figure that they will receive in return more than the interest of the investment. The enormous advance in Washington real estate the last ten years is a basis for prophecy of the future. In i860 its population was 61.122. In 1890, 220,000; 1900, probably 300,000. “Reply from Bureau of Education, April 27, 1900. “In reply to yours of April 26, the following information is from ‘The Public Libraries of Massachusetts, 1899,’ Towns without libraries are in all 7, with population of 10,970 from 2,250,000.” Mystic River. 106 NATIONAL CONTROL OF THE RIVER BANKS. CONTROL OF RIVER BANKS AS BOULEVARDS. 107 EXTRACTS FROM REPORTS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION, 1 893. The question of the proper treatment of the Charles River so as best to serve the interests of the entire community is a problem of the greatest importance, involving matters both of recreation and of grave sanitary import. The river, for a large part of its course, flows through the cen- ter of the population of the metropolitan district. The question of how to protect it from pollution has lately come to the front. In its lower reaches, particularly, the unsanitary condition of its flats and its shores has made it a serious nuisance to the inhabitants of the neighboring cities and towns. The sewage of the cities of Cambridge and a portion of Somerville and of a greater part of the Charlestown district of Boston, together with a portion of the Back Bay and Brighton districts, now flows into the river, and the sedimentary deposit thus left upon the flats causes most offensive nuisances all the way from Watertown along the tidal portion of the stream down to deep water. It should be remembered, however, that the getting rid of this the most serious element in the river’s contamination is a question of but a very short time, for on the completion of the metropolitan sewerage system, now well under way, all this sewage will be carried out to deep water, far out in the bay, leaving the tidal flow in the river free from further danger of pollution. Along here, therefore, there would only be the deposits already existing upon the flats and banks to be looked after, together with the pollution that comes from farther up the stream. There remains, however, the pollution from factories and other sources from the various communities bordering the river from Milford down. But with all these sources of contamination eliminated there yet remains one of the greatest menaces to public health, and that is the malarial troubles which have arisen in the valley of the river within the past decade. Malaria was previously unknown in this portion of New England, but the trouble has been gradually creeping this way from the westward and southward until its germs now appear to be well established in various sections of the country around Boston, particularly in the valley of the Charles River, where it is recognized as one of the most serious of evils. It hardly need be said that too decisive and radical measures can not be taken to remove this danger, which, if allowed to establish itself perma- nently, will prove a fearful detriment to the various cities and towns which it afflicts, the possible damage from which is beyond estimate. It is evident, therefore, that the earliest precautions are needed to guard against this danger. While the causes of malarial disease do not yet appear to be definitely known, it seems to be pretty generally agreed that a main source of the trouble lies in improperly drained soils, and ioS control of river banks. that the germs of the malady originate in the lotv and damp lands of river borders and swamps, whence they are carried by prevailing winds to neighboring uplands, where, although the immediate conditions of the soil may be sanitary, the residents appear to suffer to the greatest extent. The changes of a season in the level of bodies of fresh water, the exposure of flats and swamps covered at higher stages to the sun and warm winds of summer, and the consequent decay of vegetable matter are believed to aggravate, if not cause, the malady. Merely keeping the pollution out of a stream, therefore, does not reach the seat of this most serious trouble. The banks of the stream must be brought completely under public control, for only in this way can their sanitary character be properly assured. For instance, growing vegetation, and particularly a tree covering, is believed to do much toward diminishing malarial infection through the offices which vegetable growth performs in eliminating noxious elements from the soil and water. Such a growth can best be assured only by the comprehensive and well-considered methods of treatment which are possible only under a public ownership, and to this end the entire banks of a stream ought to be in charge of one central authority. The recreative value of a river like the Charles is also a matter of great importance to a large community like that inhabiting the metro- politan district. The stretch of the river, for instance, between River- side station in Newton and the city of Waltham is one of the great metropolitan pleasure grounds of Boston. Something over eight hun- dred pleasure craft of various kinds are kept on this section of the Charles alone. It is frequented by thousands throughout the summer for row- ing, canoeing, and other forms of aquatic recreation, and it presents one of the most beautiful and attractive sights in the country, with its irregu- lar shores covered for the most part with trees and shrubbery, varied at intervals by lawns and handsome houses and long, calm reaches of water, now spread out into lake-like expanses and now contracted into narrow channels, covered with hundreds of canoes and other craft gliding swiftly up and down the stream. The extent to which water recreation of this character serves a great metropolitan population is exemplified by the use made of the Thames above London, where there are thousands of licensed pleasure craft of various kinds. The Charles River is capable of similar utilization throughout its metropolitan course, and it thus would not only greatly promote the welfare of the people by affording one of the most healthful means of recreation, but the attractiveness of the stream would also add enor- mously to the value of the surrounding land. For the proper conserva- tion of a stream having the character of the Charles, the amount of land necessary to be taken would be governed by local circumstances, more being required in one place and less in another. Anyone familiar with CONTROL OF RIVER BANKS. 109 what has been done by German communities along the banks of their rivers in the beautiful Aulagen, almost universally existing in such localities in that country, will see that at many places all that is needed to meet the purpose is to secure a strip of but a few rods in width along the banks, providing perhaps no more than a footway, and creating a feature of remarkable beauty at slight expense. The interference with present occupancy of the banks, where such occupancy is of an inof- fensive nature, need for the most part be but very slight. But the main thing is to assure the permanent good character of such occupancy; and the passing of a strip of the shore into the hands of the public will prove a benefit not only to the community in general, but also to the abutters in particular, saving them from the danger of the intrusion of undesirable features into their neighborhood and the destruction of present elements of marked attractiveness. Eleventh Aggrandizement. A transformation of Analostan Island to an I sola Bella. No. 101. — Isola Bella, the beautiful island gem of the Italian Lakes, contains eight terraced gardens, one above the other, with fountains, forest trees, and a noble palace of the 17th century. In subterranean apartments are grottoes with statuary, fountains, etc. Directly in the foreground of the view across the river to Arlington is the low, marshy island of Analostan. Some millionaire holds in his hand the wand for its fairy-like trans- formation that would be a joy in prosecution to a man of culture and to the rest of mankind for all time. I IO CONTROL OF RIVER BANKS. Let him pile upon it one or two Virginia hills. Terrace its banks with walls. Adorn them with gardens in Italian style, with classic peristyles, balustrades, etc. Cast up a model of a Chaldean tower with ramps to its summit. At different levels plant upon the walls vines that shall hang pendent from them, resurrecting the hanging gardens of Babylon. Enrich the gardens with a pergola (Fig. 105), and with its indoor counterpart a peristylium (Fig. 106) as a sal/e de fete. Plant a maze precisely after the plan of that left in the Grafhtti on the walls of Pompeii. 1 Reconstruct a Roman bath, counterpart of that of the time of Christ uncovered from l>eneath the houses in Bath, England, or from those at Baden-weiler, in the Black Forest. A section of a Roman columbarium with its niches filled with casts of the most beautiful cinerary urns of the Vatican; set up specimens of the Roman masonry in original pozznlana, etc., imported for the purpose; pave a lovely inclosed court with a replica of the mosaic pavement in the Villa of Diomed, etc. Build in reconstruction an Italian palace around a court of galleries with columns, the design of Raphael (Fig. — ) or of Fig. 106, mold it in concrete. It would be inexpensive, with an interior of eight large halls in connection. Decorate one floor with The Birds of America; The Trees of America; The Fruits of America; The Bread Plants of America. The second floor series, The Story of the Plow; The Story of the Book; The Story of the Mine; The Story of the Ship. Illustrate the realistic style for practical educational effect descrilied in ' Facsimile is to be seen from which Fig. 102 is taken in the Halls of the Ancients. “There is nothing new under the sun.” c hMi No. 102. — From Graffiti on tbe walls of Pompeii. CONTROL OF RIVER BANKS. 1 1 I Addenda No. 2, Part II, omitting all effort at symbolism, allegory, and romance; painting things as they are, without substitution of the seminude human form to be interpreted as agriculture, as literature, as geology, as commerce, etc. Let this palace be festooned with the Ampelopsis, not covered, but revealing its architectural beauty, sufficiently to combine with the love- liness of foliage which environs it, and as though nature would add its embrace to its beautiful form. Illustrate in its grounds the handicraft of the ages in full sized concrete models of Stonehenge, Etrurian tombs, Tiryns and Mycense, the prim- itive architecture of Greece, the Catacombs. Then above the box and the myrtle, the classic cypress and cedar, which will top the highest No. 103. — Primitive Greek architecture — the gate at No. 104. — Primitive Greek architecture — the Gallery Mycense. of Tiryns, the early arch. ascent he has created, must later appear a counterpart of Potnpey’s Pillar, bearing the statue of Mr. Wiseman, who knew how to use his money for the delight of his race and himself. The pervading impulse of this ideal will be recognized. It is to environ impressive object lessons from antiquity — in annex to the National Gal- leries — with the combined charms of Nature and Art. This vision of an Isola Bella presupposes a previous renovation of the banks of the Potomac opposite the island. On the north side of Aque- duct Bridge there is exquisite river scenery. On the east side south, utmost shabbiness, sheds, shops, rubbishy yards, beach, etc. In Europe river banks are made ornamental with trees and kept tidy, although they may be landing places for merchandise, etc. The picture has not been sketched for a Government undertaking. The island is a very conspicuous, unkempt tract directly in the river scenery before Arlington. Its improvement after one of the most exquisite and famous examples may be the good fortune of a literal man of culture. 112 CEMENT CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION. S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 3- ITALIAN’ PALACES. I 14 He would gratify a high sesthetic taste and combine beauty with instruction for the benefit of the millions after him who should stand on the banks oT the Potomac. No. 107. — Palace designed by RafTaele Sanzio, in Rome. No. 108.— The Tursi Doria Palace. Genoa, raised upon a substructure of the Palace of Capravola. Designed by Vignola. A grand elevation for an Isola Bella Fig. 106 would grandly center the picturesque dream we have con- jured. If built around a square court displaying four equal facades it would be a marvel of stateliness and grace lifted above the cypresses and cedars that embower its classic lines. RESTORATION OF A PRETORIAN CAMP. 115 No. 109. — Restoration of the Roman camp on the Saalberg, near Hamburg, Germany, by the Emperor William. The transformation of Analosta.n Island to an I sola Bella. No. no. -Italian gardens of Mr. Hollis Hunnewell, I.ake Waban, Wellesley, Mass. 1 16 BUILDINGS IN TERRACES. Twelfth Aggrandizement. Condemnation of land in South Washington for enlargement of the park. The Draconian law against diminution of park areas for building should enforce the Swiss or Japanese edict reported, that he who fells a tree must plant two in its place. We have proposed to take a strip of Potomac Park, now veritably Potomac flats, for Government buildings. The loss of park area should be more than made good by condemna- tion now, while they are cheap, of lands in South Washington. Proba- bly this would be an early stroke of the Park Commission. It would be of great gain if blocks or reservations C and D, on Maine avenue, now in occupation of mechanical yards, and stables, could be condemned and, being added to the park, carry its easterly line to the southwest corner of the Capitol grounds. The Botanic Gardev No. hi. — R oyal Crescent, Bath, England. and the other park area between Third and Sixth streets measure east and west one-half of the entire length of the Mall between Sixth street and the Potomac. This operation would be surely profitable, for the lands would be resold with plans prescribed. The lines should not be rigidly straight, as are all the streets. They could be on crescents. Whether for high or medium class tenantry, the facades of the houses could be combined in terraces, adding to their beauty and consequent salability. With park frontage, the land at resale would pay a profit. The gain of area of lands now of small value, southward to the railroad tracks, to be screened by ornamental buildings as above suggested, is shown by plan annexed (Fig. hi). FINAL PLAN SHOWING CONDEMNATIONS. pp * * t •to 3 nvnnnnw □ □□□□ PS Cl\ 1 “lOlldVD 0 □ □□ [□□□□ aonn NODD □Q\D u v . un v — 1 1 in — JLl ]□ □ ]§C7 ]□ -j.rrrz- 117 o Z Plan in fulfillment of condemnations hereinbefore proposed. It shows great gain tor sites for public buildings, say 350 acres, and large gain to the Mall and park grounds on the south. THIRTEENTH AGGRANDIZEMENT. I l8 Thirteenth Aggrandizement. Final completion of filling of all flats bordering on the city. This is written in entire ignorance of the region involved. It occurs to memory from the reported recommendation in the press of the Busi- ness Men's Association for the covering of Anacostia flats. If lands are so low as to breed malaria, it is first in order of importance that the extinction of such danger to the health of the people should be the immediate care of Government. There would be a gain of land to be sold. Here again the example of Massachusetts is in order. [From the Boston Transcript. April. 1900.] It is well known that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has secured about 100 acres of flats in East Boston for the development of which the legislature has under consideration an appropriation of >500.000, to lie followed by other and larger sums if the enterprise is undertaken in earnest. Few people are aware of the magnitude of the Commonwealth's deals in real estate in Boston — transactions that have so far resulted in great profits, not only directly from a money point of view, but from the great values that have been added to the property of the State : also in the shape of taxes, past, present and future. One of these transactions has been completed, and the extent of the direct benefit can be arrived at. This refers to the filling of the Back Bay district. In 1S56. the Commonwealth's holdings having been reduced to about 10S acres, was inaugurated the project of improving the Back Bay, but if it included the flats in Brookline the improvement as a whole has not yet been completed, although the Commonwealth's share and the large area in its vicinity were finished years ago. The financial result of the Commonwealth's operation is as follows: Total area 1 square feet 1 Diverted to streets square feet Donated to Boston, etc Sold for cash. 49 per cent . . . . 4.723.856 2, 027, 0S3 379- 976 2, 316. 769 4. 725. 856 Cash proceeds of sales Expense of tilling and sales #5. 0S4. 1 29 1.641,924 N cash proceeds . 3. 442, 205 Cash value of donations S33, 439 Total net proceeds 4. 275. 644 FOURTEENTH AGGRANDIZEMENT. 119 The filling cost 35 cents per square foot. The first sale by the State was made in 1857, and the land in question is now worth more than ten times the price then obtained. The average for all land sold was $2. 19 a square foot, the prices ranging from $1. 16 yi to $6.65 a square foot. The Institute of Technology received as a gift 100,898 square feet, the Natural History Society 43,840 square feet — land which is now valued at alxnit $2,000,000. Commonwealth avenue and other wide streets in its vicinity are witnesses to the liberality of the State, even though the policy adopted proved very remunerative to the Commonwealth. [Then follow details of the second State enterprise on the same plan in South Boston, with a profit of $2,000,000. The third is just commenced, as first above mentioned.] If the flats, now Potomac Park, and others still unfilled had been finished on their intended ornamental plans, there can be no doubt of like profit to the city of Washington. The gain waits only upon progress. Commonwealth avenue in Boston, over 200 feet wide, ranged with costly residences, forever to be unapproached by stores, etc., now covers what was tide-flowed marsh less than fifty years ago. Beacon street, Marlboro street, Newbury and Boylston streets are parallel, and other equally fine residential streets are at right angles therewith, making a solid square mile of restricted residential territory owned, occupied, and under taxation. Why should the wild, undeveloped tract, misnamed Potomac Park, remain into another century, incomplete — a drawback to rise of property in its vicinity rather than a promotion of it? Fourteenth Aggrandizement. “above all nations is humanity.’’ The erection of charitable institutions prominently upon the hilltops of Anacostia. This suggestion is the result of visits to the U. S. Hospital, on Congress Heights. Recalling the scenic grandeur at the east, of the Capitol dome, and of those proposed — a colonnade on the north and an acropolis of memorial temples at the west — an impulse was stirred that the hill crests at the south, twice the elevation of the Capitol, should lie crowned against the horizon with like dignity of constructions consecrated tQ humanity. Then Washington would be encircled by monuments of the civilization of the nation. At the east Law, at the north Govern- ment, at the west Learning, at the south Humanity, would rear their temples as for presiding genii at the high seats of the people, not before the throne of an empire. I 20 GRANDEUR OF LONDON HOSPITALS No. 1 13. — Greenwich Hospital, London, on the Thames. No. 114. — St. Thomas Hospitals, opposite the Houses of Parliament, Loudon. GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE. 1 2 1 When power and prosperity demonstrate pride in their possession, regard for poverty and misery should be made not less visible. England displays the stately wards of v St. Thomas’s Hospital along the Thames, directly before the Houses of Parliament. The classic structures of Greenwich Hospital, with domes above a chapel and a hall, stand as conspicuously upon its banks.. The dome of the Invalides, in Paris, rivals that of the Pantheon. The distressful condition of the U. S. Hospital, crowded with misery, demands immediate enlargement. The expenditure should not be with a grudging meanness to be recognized by unfortunates, who with dimmed or disordered faculties can yet discern and enjoy beauty and 122 CHEERFUL CONSTRUCTIONS. comeliness. Wards of a nation, in pitiful deprivation, the glimmerings that remain of their faculties should be greeted by cheering and pleasing aspects within their restricted range of vision. A few evenings since the writer stood upon the plateau of the heights — Prospect Point — enjoying the view of the capital encircled by hills east, west, and north beyond the river. Upon a seat at the brow of the hill were two men apparently i:i the prime of body and mind. It was a sad falsity of appearance. They were silent as they gazed upon the city listlessly and upward to the skies. The thought was of the painful repulsion to their remaining consciousness when at sunset they should turn to their barrack-like quarters doubly and trebly packed in unhealth- fulness. Then it was resolved to seize this opportunity for appeal, that when new constructions are added to the asylum they shall be of inviting, brilliant exterior for future occupants, and that they should display plainly an intended liberality: First, to furnish attraction and diversion beyond mere essentials of being alive to the beneficiaries. Second, to exhibit an architectural elegance and a monumental promi- nence, in proof of the nation’s liberality both toward the fortunate and unfortunate; the strong and the weak; the voting makers of dignities and those incapacitated for any sen-ice. The following design is an effort to express such a puqjose. It is an aggrandizement of Fig. 115. The circular open portico at an elevation is novel and attractive. It would be a conspicuous vis-a-vis to a Presidential colonnade on the hill- tops at the north. The preceding architectural suggestions have not approached sculptural decoration. It has been left for a luxury of the future. In this instance sympathy craves expression. At the portals of the structure are two groups. The one may well be of the good Samaritan, the other a like expression of compassion or of the benignant attainments of modern science for alleviation of human woe. Through the circular colonnade rises a shaft. The grand subject, indicated for inspiration of American sculptors, is an angel of mercy with wings folded firmly, resting upon a base. Draperies are gently stirred by the breeze. One arm is heavenward in hopefulness and invocation. A downcast glance follows the hand spread in pitying beneficence. Such employment of art is its supreme vocation. When in the future other grand adornments shall be added to the capital, may the gentle virtues and graces have their due share of prominence among the trophies of war and conquest. The writer is aware of the late preference in hospital constructions to 123 124 AN APPEAL FOR THE INSANE. detached structures and for mental disorders even to cottage domiciles. But an institution that counts thousands of patients must include many who are proper occupants for any premises. Moreover, a large adminis- tration building would be demanded. It should dominate the entire group in dignity, without severity. The above was written after personal visits to the asylum, without anj’ information, beyond the statement of the physician in charge, of the pitifully overcrowded condition of the buildings. The following from the Washington Star of May 28, 1900, shows the writer’s impressions were warranted : DECENT CARE OK THE INSANE. Congress will commit an almost irreparable mistake if it fails to secure, before the close of the present session, the required addition to the present real estate holdings of the Government Hospital for the Insane. The want of proper accommodations for the inmates now there makes the existing condition of things absolutely disgraceful, and as the number to be pro- vided for is constantly and rapidly increasing, the situation, unless relieved at once, must soon reach the proportions of a national scandal. It might be partially improved, temporarily, it is true, by erecting some new buildings on the opposite side of the road from the general estab- lishment, on grounds badly needed for other purposes; but in a little while the problem which at present confronts the management will have to be met again, and the danger is that then it will be too late to acquire that which can be secured now on better terms than can be had later on, if, indeed, it can then be obtained at all. Government should do in the premises what any intelligent business firm or a properly managed corporation would do tinder like circumstances — provide for the future by scat) ing in advance the facilities for properly doing that 'which it has undertaken to do . 1 Inasmuch as it has assumed the duty of caring for its insane soldiers and sailors, it owes it to itself and to them that they shall have not only the best medical skill and care attainable, but also some of the decent comforts and accommoda- tions of at least a humble home. These things they do not now enjoy and can not have without an immediate and material enlargement of the present housing facilities of the establishment, and this can only lie had by the acquisition of an adjoining and well-adapted tract of land. 1 A proposition applicable to all plans herein set forth that are desirable and practicable. FREE MUNICIPAL BATHS FOR WASHINGTON. 125 Fifteenth Aggrandizement. Free municipal baths for Washington upon a scale, proportional to popu- lation , equal to those of any city. The argument for bathing facilities for people in cities is brief — axio- matic: More cleanliness, leas disease! More baths, less hospitals! That consideration of such provision for Washington is an immediate necessity will need no argument after an inspection of the bathing sheds on the Potomac, near the Monument. A reply from the commissioners on this subject states as follows: Executive Office, Commissioners of the District of Columbia, Washington, March 19, 1900. Mr. Franklin \V. .Smith. Dear Sir: With reference to your inquiry as to the free public baths, I have to state that the only plant of that character in the District is located on the tidal reservoir to the west of the Washington Monument. About 60,000 bathers were accommodated there from June 1 to September 9 last, about 6,000 of whom paid for the hire of the suits in which they bathed, which was practically the only charge for the privileges of the beach. No charge is made to bathers who bring their own suits. The charges for suits were 15 cents for adults’ suits and 10 cents for suits for youths under 16 years old. The bath houses would accommodate perhaps 3,000 bathers each day. It has been proposed to establish a bathing plant in the inner basin, which is an arm of the tidal reservoir on which the present beach is located. A bill carrying an appropriation of 515,000 has been introduced to effect that object. The essential design of this new basin is to provide a bathing place which will not be subject to different elevations of water incident to the fluctuations of the tides. W. Tindall, Secretary. In this connection extracts from the history of the system of free baths in Boston from “the first public document in this country on the subject of municipal baths’’ will be interesting. It will also make con- vincingly evident that the one new bathing establishment proposed for Washington should be only one of several, and that $15,000 is only a small fraction of reasonable expenditure for the purpose. For the entire city, with the Potomac and its Eastern Branch giving miles of river banks, there is but one place assigned for bathing with shelter — none for South Washington or Anacostia. The contrast of this condition with the abounding facilities provided in Boston, which from its more northern and colder location has less demand for them, is strongly exhibited by the map annexed, Fig. 117. N<>. 117— MAP OF MUNICIPAL BATHS IN BOSTON. . MAlCI a> BA/C K) XE YrcM AP fLCA7'lBB»W, OLD NCW BEACH BATHS, OLD HEW Gr**AS/UVS. OLD hew y»fsr eosrof b/iogc SnrvmGCiXHSHin ehohih £tr*s.NEw GPitfuH ervus'i/HS - ~4 NOTE. New Bar /is are //>ose estab//shed since Me creation of the Department 0/ fbbi/c Baf/is. The smatt figures represent the rutmiero/ bathers during the Season of idSS 126 FREE MUNICIPAL BATHS IN BOSTON. 127 FREE MUNICIPAL BATHS IN BOSTON. HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM. As long ago as i860 the board of aldermen and the common council of Boston appointed a joint special committee “to consider and report what measures, if any, can be adopted to provide such facilities for cheap bathing as will induce all persons to avail themselves of the means so provided.’’ The report of this committee, submitted early the following year, accepted, and ordered to be printed, was undoubtedly the first public document in this country on the subject of municipal baths. Two questions only are considered in this report: “First, is the city of Boston deficient in bathing facilities; and second, if so, how shall the want be met?’’ That it should not go at length into the gen- eral questions of the usefulness of bathing as a sanitary agency, or of its necessity to personal health and comfort, is not surprising; the inves- tigations of science having settled the former, while every-day experi- ence and observation proved the latter. But that it should not even raise the question whether it was in accordance with public policy to establish and maintain baths at the city’s expense gives some cause for wonder, inasmuch as no undertaking of the kind had been attempted or, so far as is known, proposed by any city in the United States. Examples of municipal action in this direction had to be sought in other countries, and the report cites the public bathing establishments of England, France, and Belgium. In the spring of 1866 another joint special committee was appointed to consider the feasibility of such an undertaking. This committee at once set to work with a view to securing two kinds of baths — warm and cold fresh- water baths for the fall, winter, and spring months, and salt- water baths for the summer months ; but it soon found that its immediate attention must be given to the latter, because of the great expense involved in providing the necessary apparatus and conveniences for per- manent baths. On its recommendation, $10,000 was appropriated for the establishment, under its direction, of “suitable places in South and East Boston and the city proper for salt-water bathing during the ensu- ing summer months.” This appropriation was doubled later in the season. Six localities were selected — five for floating baths and one for a beach bath — and each was placed in the special charge of some one member of the committee. The entrance of Mr. Josiah Quincy into the office of mayor, three years ago, marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history of free municipal baths in Boston. Hitherto the providing of public bathing facilities by the city had been regarded as permissible in the absence of private effort in that direction; Mayor Quincy looked upon it as but one phase of the general obligation of a city “to secure, in some measure, 128 FREE MUNICIPAL BATHS IN BOSTON No. 118. — New municipal bath, Dover street, Boston. FREE MUNICIPAL BATHS IN BOSTON. 129 the enjoyment by all of at least a certain minimum of elementary social advantages.” Hitherto, also, the chief, if not the sole ground on which the work was justified had been the promotion of the public health through bodily cleanliness; Mayor Quincy put it at once on the threefold basis of health, physical development, and enjoyment, regarding the supplying of suitable means for wholesome recreation and pleasure as coming well within the lines of municipal policy. The effect of this change of attitude was at once apparent. Among the early official acts of the mayor was the appointment of a committee of citizens to select a site and secure plans for a bath house that should be open all the year round. This building was to bfe not only thoroughly equipped for hot and cold baths, but in its architecture and appointments it was to be of such a char- acter as would appeal to the imagination of the j)eople, and give the whole subject of public baths a new dignity in their eyes. The baths already in existence, all of which were beach or floating baths along the water frontage of the city, were supplied with additional conveniences, such as fresh-water sprays, to increase their usefulness and make them more popular; and steps were at once taken to open additional water-side baths. Finally, in the spring of 1898, a new city department of public baths was created, and all the baths maintained by the city were placed under its direction. This new department is administered by seven unpaid commissioners, two of whom are women, appointed by the mayor for terms ranging from one to five years. A secretary is employed by the board to act as its executive. With the creation of the bath department began the real work of expansion. During the last summer the city had in operation six beach baths, thirteen floating baths, two river baths, and two swimming pools, as against fourteen baths of all kinds a year ago. * At the same time the commission was arranging for additional winter baths and swimming pools in different parts of the city. That so extensive a system of public bathing accommodations is not without its warrant in the needs of the people is seen from the large percentage of the population destitute of proper means of bathing at home. A proposition of the first importance in connection with the subject of free popular bathing is that in a large city it should be furnished through a considerable number of establishments designed for local use, rather than by one or two on a large scale at central points. In other words, the people of a given neighborhood should not have to go too far in 'To this list should be added the two baths connected with open-air gymna- siums — one for men and one for women — at the “ Charlesbank.” and the two beach baths at City Point, which are under the control of the park commission. The beach baths, however, are let out by the commission and carried on for private profit. S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 3- <9 FREE MUNICIPAL BATHS IN' BOSTON'. 13 ° No. 119. — Boys’ gymnasium at Dover street bath. No. 120. — Boys at Dover street bath, Boston. AN IDEAL BATHING ESTABLISHMENT. 131 order to avail themselves of such facilities. If the bath is within half a mile to a mile of the home, it will lie readily and extensively used; if it is 2 or 3 miles away, its use will be very greatly restricted. From the first the actual use of Boston’s municipal baths has been absolutely free to the people. A fee of 5 cents is charged to adults for the use of bathing suits, except at the North End beach, where suits are furnished free. Children’s suits may lie had at all the baths without charge. One cent is the price for a towel everywhere. Bathers are permitted to bring their own suits, and towels, if they care to do so. The expenditure since 1866 by the city of Boston for public baths has been $815,000. The new Dover Street bath, built in 1898, cost $86,000. I11 1897 the baths were used by 657,275 persons, and in 1898 by 1,920,368. AN IDEAL BATHINO ESTABLISHMENT. Aspirants for the Rotch traveling scholarship are working over a problem that calls for a design for a public bathing establishment. It assumes that, following the example of Mr. Sutro, of San Francisco, a wealthy citizen of Boston proposes to endow the Commonwealth with a public bathing establishment which shall be on a scale commensurate with the possible future developments of greater Boston. The site is assumed to be on the left bank of the Charles River, on the embankment formed by filling in the flats. The site has a .frontage of 800 feet facing toward the water. Between the water front and the building lot there is constructed an esplanade consisting of a promenade on the immediate edge of the water, a roadway, and a sidewalk. By means of a dam at Craigie Bridge, the water in the Back Bay is kept at a constant level. The roadway, promenade, and sidewalk are to be carried on a bridge spanning an opening through which access can be had directly from the water, by boats and pleasure craft, to an interior basin and boat landings on the grounds of the establishment. Among the features of the imaginary establishment are two large swimming baths with promenade and dressing rooms and with galleries containing seats to be used on the occasion of aquatic sports, a music stand, a restaurant, kitchen, serving rooms, gymnasium, reading room, and power and engine rooms. As a part of the general scheme it is intended to provide an interior boat landing at which launches, boats, canoes, etc. , can be hired, and for this purpose the basin inside of the grounds is to be considered. It is as- sumed that the structure throughout is to be constructed in a thoroughly first-class manner, of masonry and iron, without regard to expense. 132 SIXTEENTH AGGRANDIZEMENT. Sixteenth Aggrandizement. A National Hall of Fame on the Potomac , in the colonnade of the proposed American galleries on the Acropolis. The following late announcement in the press is inspiring to the patri- otism of the nation and to worthy ambition of its individual citizenship: THE AMERICAN HALE OE FAME. The New York University has formally accepted a gift of JUoo.ooo made to build a colonnade along the Hudson 500 feet in length and facing University Heights, to be known as the Hall of Fame for Great Americans.' There will be 150 panels 10 by 8 feet in size, to be eventually filled with names which the public themselves are to nominate — that is, the first 50 are to be selected by popular nomination made this year and sent to the University by May 1. These nominations, so far as the}- are seconded by one member of the university senate, will be submitted to one hundred or more persons throughout the country. No name is to be inscribed unless approved by a majority of answers received from judges before October 1 of the year of elec- tion. Each name must be finally approved by a two-thirds vote of the thirteen regular members of the University Council and by a majority of the honorary members voting. No name may be inscribed except of a person born in what is now the territory of the United States, and of a person who has been dead at least ten years. In the first 50 names it has been decided to include one or more representatives of a majority of the following classes: Authors and editors, business men, educators, inventors, missionaries and explorers, philanthropists and reformers, preachers and theologians, scientists, engineers and architects, lawyers and judges, musicians, painters and sculptors, physicians and surgeons, rulers and statesmen, soldiers and sailors. Should any vacant panels remain after these requirements have been met, the senate may fill them during the ensuing year. Such in brief is the outline of what may prove a national Walhalla. We have already in imaginative prospect built the National Hall of Fame. There is now an added value for its greater commemorative use. The National Walhalla can only be in Washington. It must look toward Mount Vernon, along the national boulevard soon to be com- menced . 1 2 Romans at eventide filled the porticoes of Augustus along the Tiber. In pride of conquests they said, “ To be a Roman citizen is greater than to be a king.” 1 This appropriation ($ 100, 000 for a colonnade 500 feet long) incidentally confirms the estimates (Part II) of the low cost of the long ranges of one-story “National Galleries of History and Art.” "THE NATIONAL BOULEVARD. [From the Philadelphia Telegraph ] The so-called national boulevard, from Washington to Mount Vernon, will be, when completed, a great addition to the attractions of the capital. The work will be begun early next year, Congress having some time ago made an appropriation for surveys. This fine highway will be 17 miles long and 250 feet wide through its entire course. In time, 110 doubt, statues, monuments, and arches will be constructed along the route. seventeenth aggrandizement. 133 Americans may in another generation pace the pavement of their Hall of Fame overlooking the flowing Potomac in review of illustrations of the rise, the power, and decay of successive nationalities through which they have ascended to the American Acropolis, with a nobler pride, that despite despondent outlooks of national or international conflicts, despite the dangers of corruption and the enticements of luxury, their institu- tions have been maintained in growth and prosperity, and that to l>e an American is far greater than to have been a Roman citizen. Seventeenth Aggrandizement. Memorial statues to the civil heroes on the roll of benefactors of the Republic and the World. The provisions of the New York Hall of Fame mark a new departure that has been strongly demanded. The list of classes above proposed for commemoration is a refreshing recognition that it is time to call a halt to multiplication of war statues. Of fifty names to be selected not less than twenty-three must be from civil walks of life, aud evidently the intention is to have a much larger proportion, because it is provided that one or more shall be chosen therefrom. Exaltation to fame has run with parade of deeds of war in admira- tion of heroism. But there has been heroism in no less degree, unseen, unyielding against great odds, enduring against utmost discouragement, bold, confronting ridicule, magnanimous, seeking no glittering reward or pecuniary gain, but with unfaltering strife pressing toward its goal of gain to humanity — progress for mankind. Their roll is a long one. Its call would resuscitate names of men who died at their posts — martyrs to poverty and neglect. It is time that, with the professed spirit of the age to promote “ peace on earth, good will to men,” these names should be brought to light and emblazoned for examples. A copious biographical record would be compiled of lives of men of genius, brains, industry, courage — countrymen of the United States worthy of memorial. Where in the capital are the statues of Fulton,' progenitor of steam navigation; of Morton, practical demonstrator of the beatitude of ether; of Morse, of the telegraph; of Whitney, of the cotton gin, etc.? In the model of the National Galleries in the Halls of the Ancients (vide p. 66, Part I) there are bases marked along the grand central avenue — the via sacra to the Acropolis — assigned for statues to such names from the roll of the great and good. ‘The writer has an autographic letter of Fulton to President Madison, proposing the construction of the first steam vessel of war. It was built and named the Demologos. THE AUTHOR OF AMERICA. 135 More than sixty years ago, with other children the writer walked in procession of hundreds of Sunday school children to Park Street Church in Boston to be trained at his first hearing of it to sing My country! ’Tis of thee. Dr. Holmes’s tribute to its author in his quaint rhyme is well known. Probably not so familiar is his comment on the hymn that its secret undying power was in his choice of “ My,” not ‘‘Our; ” that it was the outburst of an individual soul in joy for its personal possession of such a country. To count the millions that have sung and will sing that inspiration is to realize the hold of its author' upon Fame. Yet no bust even of him has been set up in Washington or elsewhere — save one in Memorial Hall, Harvard College. Under this head of aggrandize- ment, it is proposed that an early appropriation should be made for a bronze sitting statue of Dr. Smith. Appended is a facsimile of America, from his hand, written for the occa- sion of his last public appearance, the Floral Fete at Saratoga, 1895. He died eight weeks afterwards. The writer will present the plate of it to the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, in hope that copies may be struck therefrom for use at ever}’ final adjournment of Congress for a grand chorus in unison of the House and Senate. Were the devout clergyman aware of this suggestion he would not fail to add a wish that it should be followed by the Doxologv. 'lie was of no kin to F. W. Smith — present writer. Rev. S. F. Smith, D. D., was born October 21, 1808, accordingto his mention, under the chimes of the old North Church in Boston, from which Paul Revere hung out the lantern signal before the battle of Bunker Hill, He married a daughter of Dr. Hezekiali Smith, of Haverhill, Mass., chaplain in the Revolutionary army, a friend of Washington, and a founder of Brown Uni- versity. They lived most happily for over sixty years. “America ” was first sung in Park Street Church, Boston, July 4, 1832, led by Lowell Mason. 136 AMERICA. NO. 122. &r-c oczS' t'Cy-c67> / £y j 'S?t2/7^ l */. o^\T Sty Sty n~rz> a&> aueC Cs/a f w * ■' ■ W w - » - » V — — — M H ■ J| 1 My native country’, — thee. Land of the noble, free, Thy name I love; I love my rocks and rills, Thy woods and templed hills, My heart with rapture thrills Like that above. AMERICA. 137 as 0 / y h joS~ (ZlsT'rt 'T*' / Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet freedom’s song; Let mortal tongues awake, Let all that breathe partake. Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong. ^ *^7^ ee, — 7f- ? ** nes 1 y ^ Our fathers’ God, to Thee, Author of liberty, To thee we sing; Long may our land be bright. With freedom’s holy light, Protect us by Thy might, Great God, our King. Conclusions. Imagination would gladlv revel in other re-ereations from the past for instruction and in new devices of beauty to enhance enjoyment for the present, but numbered aggrandizements must cease, to have chance that any action may be had at this session of Congress. In parliamentary language, additional “bills” could only “be read by their titles,” and they would have no significance. They might be food for thought — delectable menus for the mind, awakening imagination, association, anticipation, recollection — blessed faculties of the human intellect. Lord Brougham, in his Natural Theology, follows the argument of Pale}' from the material in Nature, that the marvelous powers of the mind of man in its varied capacities for delight prove the beneficence of the Creator as clearly and with higher inspiration to the intellect than the gifts of the eye to see and the ear to hear. It has been a pleasure to the author to exercise these subtle faculties in the vision of a “city Ijeautiful” as a future reality for our country. If further favored by Providence he will, in the coming autumn, accept many kind invitations filed during the past ten years, to explain (with illustrations) his design for National Galleries, in Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, Detroit, Dayton, Columbus, Toledo, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Paul, St. Louis, Louisville, Minneapolis, and Pittsburg, as he has with much encouragement already in Boston, New York, Brooklyn, Philadel- phia, Baltimore, Washington, Charleston, and San Francisco. If these reminiscences move remembrances of some of those auditors he bespeaks a revival of their interest in the cause, that they then so cordially and audibly expressed. It is a surprise to the writer that his first single proposition for National Galleries has amplified to the extent of these papers. At the outset it was prejudiced by the miserable environment of the most desirable site — Observatory Hill — now at the extremity of the city dump, because it would demand the transformation of a neighborhood, involving additional expenditure. When the prospectus was first issued, the editor of the Boston Tran- script wrote: “You have a missionary work liefore you, to educate the public to such an ideal.” This necessity has l)een heavily realized. Meanwhile a powerful influ- ence, by example, in this direction has been developed — the Congressional 138 A BOARD OK AGGRANDIZEMENT 139 No. 123. — Audience (presumably) in New York or Chicago. 140 A BOARD OF AGGRANDIZEMENT. Library. That has stirred popular enthusiasm for more of like monu- mental work. It is a delight to all comers. They recognize it as on a scale with the national resources, only of late fully revealed. The}’ would vote unanimously for its counterpart in a Temple of Justice on the opposite square, and for others of like splendor and utility. It has stimulated their anticipations of a magnificent Washington in the future. They would hasten its development to share its enjoyment with the next generation. In four years since its completion there has been a great advance in popular expectations of the capital. There is abroad a public impatience that it shall share largely in the present sweep of prosperity throughout the land. A study of these conditions led to the conviction that argu- ment for National Galleries would be strengthened if presented as a collateral feature of one grand scheme for the enrichment of Washington, well matured and authoritatively commended to Congress and the people. An admirable precedent has been furnished in the legislation and action of Massachusetts above cited. Such a broad scheme of aggrandizement can onev be devised and ACCOMPLISHED BY A LEGALIZED CONTINUOUS COMMISSION OF RELIABLE AND COMPETENT MEN, MAKING THE TASK THEIR SOLE OR CHIEF INTEREST AND EMPLOYMENT. IT CAN NEVER BE WELL CONCEIVED OR EXECUTED UNDER AUTHORITIES HITHERTO PROVIDED — OF COMMITTEES of Congress and Commissioners of the District of Columbia. The greater their personal attainments and abilities the more their energies are driven to utmost endurance in other responsibilities. To centralize thought, to consecrate time as demanded on great ideals, and develop their collateral details are for them impossibilities. Were the most competent men in Congress assigned to such sendee exclusively, it could never be by them carried to completion for lack of permanence in office. Concerning accomplishment of the works hereinbefore described, the following conclusion appears reasonable: Satisfactory and accordant results can not be expected through Congres- sional action of its committees with the Commissioners of the District, in view of the results of the last thirty or forty years. With due appreciation of the intelligent zeal of members of Congress, their absorption in other great interests, with added strain of political and business affairs, is too intense to spare the time and thought required for such complicated responsibilities. Frequently it occurs that when a member is initiated in his work he is retired from Congress or changed, to other committees. Successors come to a new beginning, perhaps with new projects, disrupting the unity of those well in hand. Therefore, as the finality of these suggestions, the undersigned submits as a necessity the appointment by Congress of A BOARD OF AGGRANDIZEMENT. I 4 I A HOARD OK AGGRANDIZEMENT FOR THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, to hold office continuously for ten years. It should consist of the chair- men of the committees on the District of Columbia and on Public Build- ings and Grounds of the House and Senate, one civil and one military Commissioner of the District, and five residents of Washington not members of Congress, with power to employ counsel and experts at their discretion. The scheme is analogous to that of a Board of Policy which has been suggested for the Navy Department, so that the doings of one adminis- tration may be in harmony with a general plan running through years. They should be directed by the act — /. To submit to Congress a general plan for the improvement of Wash- ington and vicinity by parks, buildings, roads, or other devices. 2. They should submit to each Congress at its first session their recom- mendations for works to be prosecuted during the ensuing two years, with an estimate of appropriations required. j. They should have full power to condemn lands for buildings, parks , street improvement, architectural renovation , or other purposes where prop- erties can not be obtained at a reasonable price. 4.. They should have power to purchase or condemn lands on -which are unsightly buildings or objects offensive to neighborhoods, reselling said lands with prescribed designs and plans for building thereon or other improve- ments, or until such sale improving in an inexpensive but ornamental manner with buildings or other improvements for income or for public adornment. As lands were condemned and then disposed of this fund would return for use over again. If a section, sa}', of the blocks on Sixteenth street (in the picture) or a number of other shabby lots scattered through other blocks were all to lie cleared from their trash, they would imme- diately command buyers. If the commission holds the lands a while, the advance would be a legit- imate gain to the Government. The city of Paris profited immensely from lietterments following condemnations of entire streets. No time should be lost by delay of this legislation, for plainly the present extraordinary prosperity must enhance values, and real estate in Washington, when advance begins, will be inflated in price. Now is the time for the Government, as for individuals, to invest. Coincident with the above legislation should be the financial provision demanded. The foresight that will plan grandly for the future will wisely arrange for the outlay in advance. 142 A BOARD OF AGGRANDIZEMENT. To have a broad scheme devised and accepted and then left to an uncertainty in annual appropriations will be to have great operations stranded while in progress. When the United States Treasury shall be in deficit, then the work will be crippled or stopped. At the recurrence of business depression labor will clamor for and most need employment. With a prospective surplus of $150,000,000, it would gratify the worthy pride of the nation 1 2 to have $30,000,000 — one-fifth — voted for the aggrandizement of Washington and funded so that it can not be diverted from its purpose. The expenditure, of course, would be by gradual appropriations, according to the acceptance of the recommenda- tions of the board. This has been the procedure with the metropolitan commission of Massachusetts. Another expedient is to vote a percentage of the total of all annual appropriations to this object. The modicum required will be an inter- esting surprise in comparison with the vast and enduring results. The aggregate appropriations of the present Congress are in excess of $700,000,000. One-fourth of one per cent would be $1,750,000, for twenty years $35,000,000 — more than all the expenditures above mentioned would cost, while betterments to real estate and increase of population and business much more than would return the amount. Recurring to the suggestion above for the commemorative sen-ice of 1900, I imagine the following splendid sequence of events: Imitating the unanimous action of Congress without debate in the passage of the act for the Yellowstone Park, and again in that historic scene of the war appropriation of $50,000,000, a joint resolution to fund from the surplus at the close of the next fiscal year $30,000,000 for the aggrandizement of Washington. It is not as large as is now under contract for rapid transit in New York. Massachusetts in seven years incurred the same indebtedness against thirty-six cities and towns, viz, $1,500,000 per annum. San Francisco recently voted $6,000,000 to purchase and improve twenty-nine blocks leading to the Golden Gate Park. For the United States to appropriate $30,000,000 from a surplus in the Treasury for outlay during twenty years, or $1,500,000 a year, is a trifle in comparison. This amount is not so large as the outlay of the city of Paris in ren- ovations under the Empire between 1851 and 1870 — less than twenty years in renovations which have returned fourfold in its aggregate of wealth. 3 1 Addenda: Voices of the Press. 2 ,The first stroke was the clearance of a labyrinth of old houses and the connection of the Louvre with the Tuileries. While this was in progress there were built the Palace of Industry and the immense central markets; Rue Rivoli was extended for A BOARD OF AGGRANDIZEMENT. 143 The outlay involved in the above recommendation, of $1,500,000 per year for twenty years, will in twenty years appear small in comparison with expenditures then in enterprises national and mercantile. Then it will seem strange that in 1900 it had appeared to some people as large in proportion to the national outlook and resources. If there might be joint unanimous action at the close of the next session to provide — First. The appointment of a commission for aggrandizement of the city of Washington with the general provisions above stated. Second. The appropriation of $30,000,000, to be funded from the sur- plus, for use under advisement of said commission, approved by Congress. Third. An appropriation of money sufficient to lay at once the foun- dation for a Column of the Union — i. e., of the accession of States — at a central point in the market area on Pennsylvania avenue. Fourth. That commemorative services be held for the laying of a corner stone for the Column of the Union — if such action could mark the second session of the Fifty-sixth Congress, with a joint chorus of America, a Doxology would resound as the final strain. A NATIONAE .SOCIETY FOR THE AGGRANDIZEMENT OF WASHINGTON. When an effective plan like that foreshadowed shall be adopted by Congress it will be of national benefit, if the patriotism of the country is awakened to popular support of the project, aiding it also by a watchful interest from which will follow criticisms and improvements. On the 14th instant, at a meeting of one hundred scientists of Wash- ington, stereopticon illustrations of the aggrandizements above proposed were exhibited. At the conclusion the suggestion was offered of a National Society for the Aggrandizement of Washington. It was received with emphatic commendation and has been subsequently approved by others of known practical judgment. The writer has a register of more than 30,000, from all parts of the United States, who, within the past ten miles through a maze of old streets; much of the present sewer system was con- structed; a great number of new streets and parks were laid out. A large majority of those parks which contribute to the health, convenience, and beauty of the Paris of to-day were planned and executed. Of all the houses of Paris in 1870 less than one-tliird had been built prior to 1852. Meanwhile efforts of individual and associated private capital kept pace with imperial progress. The returning visitor might traverse broad thoroughfares for miles together with- out hardly a trace of the places he knew twenty-five years before. Old Paris, with its crooked, narrow streets (see fig. 4), so favorable to revolutionary barricades and epidemics, was swept away. Compare these enterprises with the above aggrandize- ments, above proposed, and their timidity, not their presumption, will be apparent. NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE I’ A G GR A N □ l_Z E MENT OF WAS HJ N G TON. No. 124 — The Roman Annex to the Halls of the Ancients, 1312, 1314, 1316, 131S New York avenue, Washington. The Taberua (store) displays exact replica of beautiful Greek vases and other art models for schools. 144 A BOARD OF AGGRANDIZEMENT. 145 years, have left record of their interest in his efforts for National Gal- leries. It includes an ex-President and many distinguished by their honorable functions, judges of the Supreme Court, Senators and Repre- sentatives in Congress, educators, etc. From this roll he proposes at once to solicit membership in a society for purposes set forth in the annexed memorandum for its constitution. It will be perfected upon further consultation with associates and then widespread membership of a national society will be solicited upon a basis substantially as given on the following page. f S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 3 10 The National Society for the Aggrandizement of Washington. The object of this society is to stimulate national interest in the archi- tectural grandeur, the enrichment, and adornment of Washington on a scale worthy its promise of future importance as the capital of the United States of America, by efforts, viz: First. To promote by its influence the appointment by Congress of a Commission for the Aggrandizement of Washington, with tenure of office for ten years, but with rotation of some of its members every three years — to report to Congress a general plan of works and meas- ures, expedient, and from time to time others said commission shall deem advisable; to cooperate with the said commission by suggestions or criti- cisms according to their judgment, and to sustain the commission in execution of their plans. Second. By the appointment of an executive board, the majority to be resident in Washington, but with representatives in other cities, who shall offer plans and suggestions, as above mentioned, making the sub- ject their special study and interest and stimulating advisory recommen- dations from the public. The selection from these contributions of such as shall be deemed worthy of commendation or improvement, such papers to be acknowl- edged in published reports; publication of interesting and desirable plans, designs, or suggestions to be made from time to time with illus- trations; also with publication of examples drawn from capitals ancient and modern, which may be valuable for imitation or in modification for the municipal comfort and adornment of Washington. Third. To enlist the cooperation of the press of the different States; especially of artistic, architectural, educational, and other literary jour- nals. Fourth. To establish in Washington an office for said lx>ard, where will be on exhibition plans, designs, and suggestions contributed; engravings of architectural examples, etc. Fifth. According to the means of the board, to employ lecturers throughout the country to promote public interest in Washington and cooperation for its aggrandizement. Sixth. To consider carefully various architectural or other improve- ments proposed to Congress, aiding their promotion or advocating their revision as may be expedient. 146 A NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR AGGRANDIZEMENT. 147 Seventh. According to the means at the disposal of the society, to offer prizes for plans or designs in realization of constructions, streets, parks, or other improvements, which the board shall by a majority of three-fourths decide are desirable for accomplishment. Eighth. As a board, by formal vote, to commend specified objects or purposes with estimates of their costs to the liberality of the people of the United States for their gifts to National Galleries of History and Art or other attractions of the capital. The membership of the society shall be enrolled in permanent volumes, alphabetically by States. Membership to be subject to an annual assess- ment of $2. All members to receive the publications of the society. Contributions of larger amounts are to be accompanied by lists of indi- viduals, one for each $2 subscribed; said individuals to receive the publications of the society. National banks will be asked to act as depositories for subscriptions. Congress will be petitioned to grant the franking privilege for the circulation of the publications of the society. A constitution and by-laws to be adopted as soon as three hundred members are enrolled from different States, to warrant assumption of the name National Society. The meetings of the society to be held in Washington at the time established by the by-laws. Note. — Delay in obtaining data and illustrations for this publication prevents the issue of it before the adjournment of Congress, which occurs earlier than was anticipated. Therefore any action upon its suggestions or consideration of them must wait the session in December, 1900. A Personal Statement. From his great interest therein the undersigned is compelled to make the following statement and appeal: The preceding papers are the fruitage of observation and study of architectural effects during 50 years, at frequent intervals, in the capitals of Europe, and especially of attention to municipal constructions and adornments abroad during late visits as far as Stockholm, St. Peters- burg, Moscow, Constantinople, Athens, and Cairo, that has filled note- books with material for possible utilization in the splendid but unim- proved opportunities of Washington. For 10 years past these topics have been the absorbing and exclusive employment of his thoughts and energies. Since the publication of his first Prospectus (Part II) the outlay of effort on his part has been excessive. It is three years since, at the suggestion of Mr. B. H. Warner, he came to Washington to construct the Halls of the Ancients. He has had no financial assistance ' until the cooperation of Mr. S. Walter Woodward, of Washington, by whose aid (as hereinbefore at first stated) the Halls of the Ancients were established. For five years during the financial depression the enterprise of National Galleries was persist- ently followed through personal conference, by printed exhibits, lec- tures from Boston to San Francisco, but without publicity, which was inexpedient. Frequently during this decade has been recalled an imperishable record from the pen that decreed not only the locality of the capital that bears his name, as did the plow of Romulus mark the bounds of Rome around the Palatine, but also therein the square "No. 4 south of squares 33 and 34 to Potomac River" (now Observatory Hill) for educational use. His injunction it has been the aim of these writings to fulfill. "The peculiar circumstances attending" the announcement of such a broad scheme; "the embarrassed situation of our public affairs , which obliged me every year" (for five) "to postpone” its revival to public atten- tion; "and as expense was incidental thereto and consequent of my self- denial, I have, as of right I think I ought , upon due consideration adjudged ” — that now, assistance from the Government toward my con- tinuance in the work — especially considering my advanced age and impaired health — "is just with respect to the public as it is convenient -with respect to myself; and / make it with less reluctance as I find that / am a considerable loser, my disbursements falling short of my receipts and the ■ Except from one whose modesty forbids mention, but who in this connection deserves commendation. 148 A PERSONAL STATEMENT. I49 money I had of my ow7i." Under these circumstances the author now appeals to Congress — First. For an assignment to him for his personal use at discretion of 5,000 copies of this Senate Document No. 209, in parts or entire as desired, with 1,000 copies thereof bound in cloth. He has contributed a very large share of the expense of its issue, including the value of original drawings for the illustrations, the cost to the Government of that number of copies not being equal to that of the first edition of his Prospectus (5,000 copies quarto, 105 pages, 146 illustrations). Second. He solicits of all members of Congress the acceptance of this invitation to visit the Halls of the Ancients with their families, that they may judge of the feasibility in these days of effective, realistic reconstruction from antiquity, for impressive object lessons to old and young, and from those demonstrations judge of the benefit to the nation of the establishment of National Galleries of History and Art upon full scale of the design. Third. He solicits as a personal favor from members of Congress that after examination of the papers herewith, in leisure at their homes, they will kindly write to the undersigned their conclusions with reference to them, and, if favorably regarded, aid their purpose in all ways practicable. F. W. S. Washington, May 28 , 1900. Note. — The extraordinary interest to the people of the United States for all time of the facsimiles annexed was the temptation to make the paraphrase above a motif for their publicity. Thus these papers com- mence and conclude with reproductions of the handwriting of Wash- ington. The first (Part I) are photographic reductions from the original documents; absolutely counterparts to the dot of an i or the place of a period. These would have been impossibilities a century ago. ADDENDA. CONTENTS. Page. 1. Voices of the press 155 2. Municipal aesthetics 163 3. Abundant prosperity, 1900 168 4. Legislation moved in Congress 170 5. A professional opinion — Dr. Sowers — of the highlands as preferable for a new White House 172 6. Criticism of the design reported to Congress for the Memorial Bridge .... 176 7. Additional views of embowered homes in Washington 179 8. Views on the Potomac 181 9. Concrete construction being demonstrated in Washington, No. 9 182 10. Estimated cost of the proposed aggrandizements 184 11. Plans for the comprehensive development of Washington. (From the American Architect, June 2, 1900.) 185 12. A vision of splendor; oration of Hon. Marriott Brosius, at Arlington, on Memorial Day, May 30, 1900 . 187 Note. — T he material in these papers, drawings, illustrations, etc., was received too late to accompany the text to which it has relation. In later editions it will be added to the respective papers. 153 Addenda No. i. VOICES OF THE PRESS. [From the New York Tribune.] AS TO NATIONAL EXPENSES. Some men need to open their eyes and realize that this is not a pauper country. Economy is excellent when it is not a crime or a disgrace. But in these days the argument of economy is used, often with mistaken honesty, no doubt, but also at times with knavish intent, to prevent expenditures for which the Government and the people are amply pro- vided. Whether the object is wise or unwise, whether the motive is the best or not, the argument is nothing better than an unworthy appeal to ignorant prejudice. If there is anything which the Government may wisely do for the welfare of the people it is folly to claim that it is not able or that they can not bear the burden. This nation of 77,000,000 people, more or less, is to-day better able to spend $300,000,000 than it was thirty years ago with half the population to spend $100,000,000. Its wealth has increased more than threefold, from $30,000,000,000 to over $100,000,000,000. Its people are far more fully employed, earning much better wages, and are more secure and independent in their industries, with a national credit such as no other power possesses. The nation has a measure of control in the world’s finances which nobody expected thirty years ago this country would attain. It was able in 1870 to pay over $3 for every inhabitant as interest on the public debt, but it would be a much lighter burden to-day to pay interest on a debt of $7,000,000,000, and not even the wildest scheme of national defense or development would call for any such sum. The world’s financiers would tumble over one another in their haste to get United States bonds at a rate paying less than 3 per cent, but the people themselves would take care that not many such bonds would go beyond their borders. Abundance of resources is not a reason for wastefulness. A nation which is adding to its wealth in a year $2,000,000,000 or $3,000,000,000 is not pinched in its expenditure by lack of money. The question is, and always ought to be, only one of the wisdom of an expense proposed. i55 VOICES OF THE PRESS. 156 [From the Philadelphia Inquirer.] BEAUTIFY THE NATIONAL CAPITAL. Of the minor recommendations made by President McKinley in his message to Congress, none is at once more timely and more important than his suggestion that the centennial of the founding of the city of Washington shall be made a notable event. Washington is to-day a beautiful city, but it does not yet begin to do justice to the great people who own it as their seat of government. Had he argued for two or three such memorials he would not have gone too far. As he says, the people of the country are justly proud of their capital city, and they have a right to be. But the work of making that city beautiful has only begun. Those who would protest against such an outlay are of so small a proportion of the population that their voices would scarcely be heard, and even if heard would be of no consequence compared with the overwhelming sentiment in its favor. Let us face this subject in a patriotic spirit. Paris is to-day the most beautiful city in the world, because the people of France have spent millions of dollars year after year in adorning its streets with just such memorials as the President has in mind. With its enormous resources this nation should equal the results achieved in the French capital. A thousand reasons for such a policy come easily to mind. No foreigner visits this country without visiting the capital and without returning to his own country to tell what he saw. No native citizen goes thither without having his patriotism stirred and feeling more and more inclined to fight more determinedly for his country. These are the great reasons for carrying out the Presidential recommendation. It need not be feared that there will not be any adequate return for the amounts expended. The cost to so great a people would not be felt, and everywhere the effect would be to enhance the prestige of the whole people among the nations of the world. It is hazarding little to predict that the committee for which the Presi- dent has asked will be named and that an appropriation will be made, but there should be 110 halfway business in the premises. The com- memoration should be a notable one, and should carry the fame of the United States to the farthest corners of the earth. [From the Indianapolis Press.] BEAUTIFY THE CAPITAL — SOUTH SIDE OF THE AVENUE SHOULD BE PURCHASED BY THE GOVERNMENT. Some public-spirited citizens have been advocating a project to beau- tify the national capital. The scheme contemplates the purchase by the Government of the triangular tract of land between Pennsylvania VOICES OF THE PRESS. 157 avenue and the Government reservation, from the Capitol to the White House grounds, the construction of a grand boulevard from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, thence connecting with Pennsylvania avenue, and the continuance of this boulevard over a memorial bridge across the Potomac. It is thought probable that if this were done the State of Virginia would cede to the District of Columbia land along the Potomac for a driveway to Mount Vernon. The report from Washington is that the project has almost been aban- doned because of the expense involved. The cost of the recent war and its ensuing conditions deter the Representatives from making the large appropriation necessary to carry out an improvement that their constitu- ents might regard as purely local. The Press believes that a plan the execution of which would make Washington the most beautiful capital in the world ought not to fail because the people lack information on the subject and Congress fears the charge of extravagance. The improvement of V ashington is a matter of national interest and patriotic pride ; and if the advantages of the present plan were known to the people we believe that it would be emphatically indorsed. The shabby and unsightly buildings that now mar the beauty of Pennsylvania avenue would be removed and the Government reservation, extending from the Capitol to the Potomac, would make a great park, and we may be sure that in this park, devoted to public use through an Eesthetic ideal, no such architectural nightmares as the Pension Office would be placed. Governmental extravagance is one thing and a wise expenditure to increase the beauty of the national capital is another. T. his seems clearly to be the latter. Its advantages are obvious and no petty econ- omy should hinder such a project. The press generally should take the matter up, and the patriotic societies have here an opportunity to display a reason for their existence other than mutual felicitations on the dis- tinguished ancestry of their members. The Sons and Daughters of the Revolution and kindred societies can perform a real patriotic service by bringing this plan fully to the knowledge of the people. When that is done we believe that there will be an imperative popular demand for the proposed improvement. [From the Cincinnati Commercial-Tribune.] PRIDE IN THE CAPITAL — WASHINGTON MUST BE MADE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF ALL CITIES. Every true American is proud of the national metropolis. Washington is dear to us because of the talismanic charm of its name, the beauty of its location, and the majesty of its public edifices, but more than all I5« VOICES OF THE PRESS. because with that splendid city are inseparably bound up the lives aud the achievements of the greatest men America, and indeed the world, has ever known. We believe, with the Washington Post, that there is no better way to gratify and stimulate patriotic pride than to enlist the interest of the masses in the capital of the nation. Washington is in truth, as the Post points out, the one city in the country whose interests are the interests of every citizen and whose honor and beauty belong to the entire nation. American patriotic pride will not rest satisfied with the adoption of any policy toward the national capital save one having for ultimate purpose the making of Washington the most beautiful capital in the world. The Indianapolis Press very properly declares that such a policy should not fail either localise the people are not fully informed as to its details or because Congress might fear the charge of extravagance in providing for its execution. Our country has in ioo years become the greatest in the world. The capital of the country should reflect that matchless growth and advancement. We stand on the very threshold of a new century. The nineteenth century has been for the world made glorious by American achievement. But, marvelous as have been our services to the race in the ninteentli, they -will, we are convinced, be eclipsed by the still grander and nobler promotion of the interests of civilization through the instrumentality of the American nation in the twentieth century. Our leaders, guides, and rulers have their seat at Washington. The future of that city is in their hands, and the patriotism of America demands that the future shall not lie unworthy the nation itself. As America is the greatest of nations, Washington must be the most beautiful of capitals. [From The Washington Post. Monday, April 9, 1900.] THE PEOPLE AND THEIR CAPITAL. The Post does not believe there is any member of either House of Congress who doubts that at some time or other, and at no very distant period, the Government will acquire the grounds south of Pennsylvania avenue and north of those which it now owns, and will carry out a com- prehensive plan of improvement which will make Washington indis- putably “the most beautiful capital in the world.’’ The Post has no doubt that if the American people understood the situation, if they knew the relation which the acquisition of those grounds bears to the future of their capital, they wpuld wonder at the delay of Congress. No Congressman has ever lost a vote for having manifested an interest in promoting improvements at the national headquarters. The few Con- gressmen whose narrow minds and stunted public spirit have prompted them to seek popular favor by adopting a niggardly policy toward the capital have signally failed to realize on their investment. Take the VOICES OF THE PRESS. 159 roster of any Congress that has ever assembled in Washington, point out the names of its most illustrious members, and you will have the list of those who strove most earnestly to carry out the grand conception of the founder of this city, the peerless patriot whose name it bears. The people of the United States understand that their capital is in the hands of their agents in Congress. They know that Congress “exer- cises exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever” over every inhabitant of this District. They read the story of the nation’s growth — a story unmatched in the world’s history for great achievements — and they look to Congress to see to it that the nation’s capital keeps pace with the nation. This Republic is going out of the nineteenth into the twentieth century with more to its credit than any other power on the globe. We believe that in leaving behind a century of grand progress it enters upon a cen- tury of progress still more grand. That its people will not fail to make and to keep their capital what it should be we have no doubt. There will be an increasing realization, as the years go on, of the unique position in which the people are placed with regard to this city and District. In no other country do the people own and govern their capital. There- fore in no other are all the people interested in and responsible for the political metropolis. There is but one city in the United States whose citizens take no part in electing the officials who rule the capital; that solitary exception is the capital itself. THE NATION’S .STREET. To the Editor of The Washington Evening Star: Your editorials on the improvement of the south side of the avenue have afforded me a great amount of pleasure and interest, and I sincerely trust that Congress will take a broad-gauge view of the matter and at least take one step forward at this session. Washington is, of course, the city for all great national celebrations, and Pennsylvania avenue is the place in Washington for the same. In this connection my mind runs back through the inauguration festivities to the second inaugu- ration of President Grant. Take the afternoon of March 4, after the parade, and view the avenue, disfigured with rough stands and their cheap bunting, dilapidated one-story shanties alongside of substantial business houses — not for- getting the row of rum mills on the north side near the Capitol (so aptly described in The Star a few days since), and what a dreadful sight it presents ! How different would be the scene if Congress should build up the entire south side, with the buildings all harmonizing, and suppose the entire frontage of all these great buildings was arranged with covered balconies to accommodate the thousands of visitors. The i6o VOICES OF THE PRESS. roadway would be the arena of this vast amphitheater. The nation would be proud indeed of its capital city with such a magnificent avenue, and inauguration day would be looked forward to by hundreds of thousands with the greatest of pleasure and a trip to Washington as the event of their lives. Old Reader. [From the Charleston News and Courier, May 3, 1900.] GOOD WORK IN WASHINGTON. Time was, and that not long since, when Washington City was distin- guished by little more than “ its magnificent distances.” It was largely a waste, dotted here and there with towering edifices, in which art and beauty were sacrificed to service and use. It consisted substantially of Pennsylvania avenue, dominated at one end by the old Capitol and squatted upon at the other end — as it is yet — by the White House, and no electric propulsion annihilated the interval of this aching void. Much, very much of this, has been changed, and Washington is rap- idly becoming, if it is not already, the most beautitul city of the land. Its new Capitol is worthy of the greatest country 7 on the globe; its new Congressional Library is a dream of exquisite taste and elaborate skill, upon which no cost has been spared; its avenues have been laid out with special care and definite plan, with oases of parks and squares at their junction with each other; costly and impressive monuments adorn every public place; and splendid private residences have sprung up, as if by magic, in every part of the city. Holding an unique position among the States of the American Union, located in none of them, and yet belonging to them all, Washington has become the chosen residence of much of the culture and wealth of the United States. A literary and social life finds expression here, in strange contrast with the political atmosphere so often associated in thought with the nation’s capital — a life refined, elevated, and beautiful. There is a spirit abroad, if we are to judge by the great journals of the country, or many of them — to rejoice in this growth of our country’s metropolis into such proportions as will make it increasingly the type of our American civilization and the center of our patriotic pride; to encourage and even call for such action from Congress — which legislates for it — as will make our capital city worthy of a Republic of 80,000,000 of people. Surely such a spirit is to be commended and its suggestions heeded by all who are sensitive to everything which concerns their country’s honor. VOICES OF THE PRESS. 1 6 1 [From The Washington Evening Star, Saturday, March 3, 1900.] The great Mall, with its succession of broad areas devoted artistically to combinations of lawn and wooded growths, forms one of the city’s most distinctive features. Already the Mall has been invaded by buildings because of the par- simony of Congress. There was but feeble objection to the introduction of the Smithsonian Institution there, for its nature befitted it to the seclusion of the park and its architecture blended harmoniously with the dense foliage of the forest growth. The Department of Agriculture, how- ever, was a mistake, while the National Museum was only to be excused on the ground of its likeness in organizational character to the Smith- sonian, a biscuit-toss away. But for the sternly practical, forbidding Medical Museum there was never a valid excuse, and the capital has always deplored this invasion and violation of the park principle. It > was hoped that these four buildings, constituting a group of scientific organizations, would remain the solitary occupants of the Mall, aside from the Fish Commission office, doomed to early removal, and the magnificent memorial shaft at the western end, destined for a significant permanence. Now comes the plan to despoil the park, to locate all future public buildings within its limits, to cut it in twain by an inartistic street, and to change its original character entirely. It is no wonder that the scheme is rejected by the most advanced public spirit of the citizens, as unworthy the great occasion with which it is associated, and a positive detriment to the artistic and the material progression of the capital. There is room in plenty for^the buildings yet to be built without invad- ing the parks. There are grander opportunities for city adornment than this, which represents such a direct sacrifice of principle and public space. The only course of safety is to stand firmly in opposition to the plan. Once it is adopted, there is no guaranty for the future. Whereas now Congress is chary about buying sites for public buildings, always counting the cost and the difficulty of selection, with the park-site prin- ciple established there will be no barrier to prevent the frequent and lavish expenditure of this beauty and breathing space for public building uses. It is only by the maintenance of high ideals that great ends are achieved. The great end here is the evolution of a capital worthy the country and the times, a city of rare beauty and convenience, of dignity and good government. S. Doc. 209 — Pt. 3 1 1 162 RESOLUTION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL CLUB. RESOLUTION PASSED BY THE WASHINGTON ARCHITECTURAL CLUB, SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 1900. The Washington Architectural Club, an organization whose object it is to foster and further the study of architecture as a fine art, seeing in the movement promulgated by Mr. Franklin W. Smith, to erect a group of buildings illustrating the history and development of architecture, a means for furthering the object for which this society was established, Resolves, That we extend to Mr. Smith an expression of our good will by indorsing the movement initiated by him and declaring our belief in the immense amount of good such a scheme will ultimately accomplish, by popularizing the study of architecture and by object lessons creating a just appreciation of it; that we believe the expendi- ture of money required is proportionate to the benefits to lie derived, and that we urge Congress to take some definite action on the subject. And be it further resolved, That these resolutions [be typewritten and copies forwarded to Mr. Franklin W. Smith, the proper committees of Congress, the architectural journals, and to such other persons as may be deemed proper by the secretary of this club. T. F. Laist, ex officio , E. W. Donn, Jr., W. B. Wood, Committee. Addenda N o. 2. MUNICIPAL AESTHETICS. [From the New York Home Journal, April 12, iyoo.] It is a significant and a hopeful sign that we are beginning to think, in the erection of our monuments and buildings, of other things in addition to utility. Utility is of course necessary, and so, we shall find, is beauty. Municipal aesthetics, if properly understood, is a liberal education to all citizens, and its importance is now beginning to be appreciated in America. Mr. Walter Crane writes: “ If our cities are to be made pleasant abid- ing places, if their form and arrangement are to appeal to the eyes and the pleasure and comfort of their citizens as well as their pride, these things (the beautifying of streets) will have to be considered. Why, with all the resources of art and science, with knowledge of sanitation and all those things necessary to the maintenance of a high standard of human life, we should allow ugliness, meanness, and squalor to exist, and to depress and deaden the external aspects of our cities to the extent we do, is amazing. The awakening sense to the importance of beauty is an encouraging sign, and one is glad to hear of the way in which the subject is being taken up in America.” Mr. E. H. Blaslifield has recently asked: ‘‘What has municipal art done? It has beautified; it has stimulated; it has commemorated for more than three thousand years. It made Athens the most famous city of antiquity for her beauty’s sake — the beauty of her statues, her pictures, the beauty of her music, plays, and poems, for which she insti- tuted civic and national trials of skill; for the commemoration of her patriotism, which again took the form of beauty and builded the mem- ories of Marathon and Salamis into the stones of the Parthenon. It made Rome the most splendid city of her splendid Empire, a museum of art for all time, a schoolroom for the students of four centuries. It gave to Ephesus and Halicarnassus and Thebes fame that has endured longer than the cities themselves. It has perpetuated the memory of the wise and strong, and thereby stimulated millions of men to the thought of great examples millions more to the reverence of beauty 163 MUNICIPAL ESTHETICS. 164 and a higher appreciation of nature as reechoed in man’s handiwork. It has helped men to think. In sum, public and municipal art is a public and municipal educator. Therefore, it is good; therefore, we should have it. “ In all ages,” he continues, ‘‘municipal decoration has gone on, great with the great epochs, decadent with the epochs of decadence, but always a stimulus, always a dower from past to future, and in the pres- ent not infrequently a revenue. The art of Italy draws thousands of tourists annually, with millions of money, and some of that money — that which is dropped at the turnstiles of the museums — pays for the housing and keeping up of that same treasure of art. “ Paris is rich enough to forego this gate money, and one passes no turnstile at Louvre or Luxembourg. One is apt to think of Paris as purveyor of easel pictures to the world, but one must not forget that she has not been unmindful of that larger art which we call municipal. * * * America is a young country, but she has much to celebrate — her settlement, the exploration of her rivers and lakes and plains, the building of her railways, the wonderful romance of her mining life, the development of her fisheries, the telegraph, the submarine cable, the application of iron to naval warfare, last, but not least, the achievements of her Army and Navy. * * * The post-office of New York reaches its hand as far as that of Rome or Berlin, and has as much right to sum- mon to its walls the symbols, attributes, and personages that collect together the quarters of the earth and make up an epitomized pictured world’s gazetteer. A post-office, a railway station, a bank, an exchange — any of these — may offer an endless field to the imagination of painter or sculptor. Still more suggestive are library and courts of law; and think of a town hall, where the whole expression of a people’s aspirations may be pictured. 11 The effect of decorating a city, the effect upon the mind — that is, of the spectator — is cumulative. He soon gets to demand more and more of harmony, and is not satisfied unless the general appearance of the streets is handsome. Such wildernesses of the commonplace and even of the ugly, sometimes of the hideous, as are now seen throughout acre after acre on the east and west sides of New York would never have been tolerated by an old Florentine or Venetian.” Mr. George Kriehn, in discussing the question of ‘‘The City Beau- tiful,” feels that the conversion of the American city, built primarily for utility, into the city beautiful may seem, at the first glance, a Herculean task. But if each element of ugliness be taken up and rooted out one by one, the task though long, need not be difficult. One of the first things he objects to is the hideousness of street signs and advertise- ments. 1 Signs could be beautiful quite as well as ugly. In Belgium a ' See the hideous triangular displays thrust into vacant lots on Connecticut avenue and elsewhere in Washington. MUNICIPAL AESTHETICS. 165 municipal art society has taken up the matter and initiated competitions for beautiful designs for which prizes are awarded. Sculptors and skilled iron workers compete because of the value of the prizes as well as their interest in their work, and merchants because of the advertisement it gives them. The result is that all over the city one finds graceful signs, and it is an interesting fact that these pay better than ugly ones. Another method by which we could gradually improve our streets is the introduction of color. The love of color is natural. Who is there that does not love the colors of autumn, the crimson of the sunset, and the blue of the ocean? Every child seeks things that are gay and bright and new. In olden times the people delighted in color. The Greek temple stood on high green promontories by the bright blue sea, gaily colored with red and blue and ivory. The mediaeval city was a feast of color with its bright tile roofing and painted facades, with the coats of arms emblazoned on all the houses and walls of the cities, and with the glittering glass windows stained in all colors. It is only in modern times that we have banished it from our midst, except where we put up a hideous affair to advertise an auction sale. In coloring our modern cities the French have given us good examples. They use the trees as much as possible. Green is nature’s coloring; it rests the eye, and in the broader streets of the city nothing is so charm- ing as to see a bright green tree. Municipal art has its practical side which will appeal especially to Americans. A beautiful city will attract a desirable class of residents. The Americans and the other foreigners who # are in Paris are there primarily because Paris is such a beautiful place. They buy French goods, they build houses or rent them, and so on. This applies also to a certain extent to New York and Washington, because they are, perhaps, the most beautiful of our cities. Municipal art will undoubtedly, if properly financiered, greatly improve real estate values. The Avenue de l’Opera in Paris is a striking example of this. There is a street in Glasgow that will soon have paid the cost of its construction. There is another in London — Shaftesbury avenue — which was built through Seven Dials, and there are any number of them in Paris ; and the Parisians keep on building them. As an educational factor, municipal art can not be overestimated. Monuments and arches teach glory more thoroughly than any book can. Why should not the American people be taught patriotism in a similar fashion to a far greater extent than at present? Our history abounds in great subjects well adapted to artistic portrayal. Nothing would be a more effective agent in making good citizens of our foreign population than such monuments. Many of them can not read English books, but they can read monuments, which appeal to the eye. This matter is as important as any political issue before us, and it has one great advan- tage — it is nonpartisan. Two things are necessary before we can have MUNICIPAL AESTHETICS. 1 66 a beautiful city. The first is patriotism and the second a desire to excel.' Civic patriotism is an all-important factor. At the beginning of the fifteenth century the people of Florence wanted to build a tower. Florence was a little city, not nearly so large as many Italian cities, not nearly so powerful as Naples or Venice, but they said to the architect: “You must build a tower which will not only surpass what has been done by any Italian city, but anything in the whole world.’’ Giotto went to work and created the Campanile, “that serene height of mountain alabaster, colored like a morning cloud, chaste as a sea shell.’’ The City Beautiful should become a term that can aptly be applied to New York and Washington and all other cities. It can not lie done in five years or ten, but even if it takes half a century or more, surely the end is worth striving for. [From the House Journal.) Mrs. E. H. Blashfield made several practical suggestions as to “How New York may be made beautiful,’’ in an address before the League for Political Education, in Berkeley Lyceum, yesterday morning. “To whom did the cities of the past owe their public decorations?’’ asked Mrs. Blashfield. “Was it only to the kings, emperors, and grand dukes, whom we have not in America? No. Bruges, Florence, Venice, and Nuremberg got their art from the very men whom we have — by magistrates, merchants, and artisans.’’ Mrs. Blashfield suggested that Longacre square might lie made into a park. Wall fountains, •consisting of a has relief, with basin underneath, which she termed the simplest form of decoration, might, she said, be erected in a great many places, as they are fitted to adorn even the nar- rowest streets. “Tablets of brass or marble should mark all the historic spots of the city,” she said. “Certain quarters of the town should be beautified, as we can not spread a thin coat over the whole city. Especially the river side should be made a thing of beauty. Some of the quays have been made beautiful as recreation piers, and I think every tenth quay at least could lie beautified without loss to commerce. Natural lieauties, such as the Palisades, should be, alxive all things, preserved. “An easy way of adding to the beauty of our city streets would lie the general use of window 1 nixes of flowers and vines, such as are com- mon all over London. “The greatest plea for municipal art is that it is municipal education. It is a tacit declaration of democracy, for it means equal division of the beautiful things of life.” 'A third should be added — “ missionary work,” to cultivate appreciation of the theme of this paper and habits of observation that will incite a craving to enjoy the results which are its aim. The National Society for Aggrandizement of Washington should enlist a vast constituency in the United States. THE BILLBOARD NUISANCE. 167 [From The Cleveland Leader.] THK BILLBOARD NUISANCE. It is clear that the billboard nuisance will have to be abated in Cleve- land. Signs have been put up in places where they are nothing less than the disfigurement of valuable public pleasure grounds and an injury to public property. In the end there will have to be strict regulation of the whole sign- board business. It is an injury to private as well as public property, in many cases, and the streets are disfigured beyond all reason or excuse. In such matters Americans are too lax, and one of the certain improve- ments of the near future in American cities will be the more effective restriction of the use of private property in ways injurious to the public. In such control of individual license Europe is far ahead of the United States. [From The Philadelphia Press.] THE SAME HERE. Chicago and Cleveland have declared war against the billboard nuisance and propose to make a vigorous effort to have it abated. The practice of permitting bills and advertising signs to be put up in any and all sorts of places has been carried to extremes in those cities and the consequence is the disfigurement of pleasure grounds and parks and the flaunting in the face of the public of objectionable handbills. If public opinion can be awakened and crystallized the practice can probably be stopped. Those cities are not the only ones, however, which have suffered from this nuisance. A little stricter regulation concerning these would meet with public approval. Addenda No. 3. ABUNDANT PROSPERITY— 1900. Never before since the beginning of the Government has this land been blessed with such substantial evidences of almost boundless pros- perity along so many different lines. The President shows that — American exports for 1899 alone exceeded by more than $ 1 , 000 , 000 , 000 imports and exports combined in 1870. The combined exports and imports are the largest of any year in American history. The imports per capita are 20 per cent less than in 1870. The exports per capita are 58 per cent more than in 1870. Exports of agricultural products were $784,776,142. Exports of manufactures were the largest in the history of the country, valued at $339,592,146. Government receipts from all sources amounted to $610,982,004.35. Based on the estimates of the Secretary of the Treasury, there will be a surplus June 30, 1901, of receipts over expenditures of $152,000,000. The customs receipts for the last fiscal year were $206,128,481.75. The internal-revenue receipts increased by about $100,000,000. December 1, 1899, the available cash balance in the Treasury was $278,004,837.72, of which $239,744,905.36 was in gold coin and bullion. So strong was the position of the Treasury that for the first time in eight years the Treasury resumed compliance with the sinking-fund law, and during November offered to purchase $25,000,000 of the 5 per cent bonds of 1904 or the 4 per cents of 1907 at the current price. The amount purchased during November was $18,408,600. This gave a net saving to the Government of about $2,885,000. Total appropriations for the Fifty-fifth Congress were $1,566,890,016. No feature of the commerce of the United States, whether domestic or foreign, shows a more wonderful development than that carried upon the Great Lakes, where navigation is about to resume for the season of 1900. While since 1872 the foreign commerce has doubled, lake tonnage has ' 168 ABUNDANT PROSPERITY. 169 increased from 914,735 tons to 21,958,347 tons in 1899, the increase hav- ing been over 2,000 per cent. Exportation of wheat Transportation through the Soo canal : Flour Coal Iron ore Wheat Lumber, copper, etc., in like proportions. 1872. 1899. 39, 000, 000 222 , OOO, OOO 136, 40 7 . ” 4 . 147 80,815 3,940,887 383, i °5 15, 328, 240 a 1 , 376.705 58 . 397,335 a 1871. t Addenda No. 4. LEGISLATION MOVED IN CONGRESS— FIFTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. Several resolutions have been moved in Congress in the direction of this present suggestion of a permanent commission. Mr. Lodge introduced a bill for a permanent commission for con- demnation proceedings in the District of Columbia. According to this bill the Supreme Court of the United States is authorized to appoint five suitable persons, one of whom shall be a member of the liar, as a perma- nent commission for the opening and extension by condemnation pro- ceedings of streets, alleys, rights of way for sewers, for the acquisition of any real estate required for the use of the District of Columbia or for the United .States. The bill provides necessary details relating to the manner in which an appeal may be taken from the decisions of the commission. Another suggestion is an art commission composed of the presidents of the American Institute of Archaeology, of the National Sculptors’ Society, and of the Academy of Design, and two citizens to be appointed by the President, to pass upon the artistic merit of designs or models of every work of art. This apparently is intended to apply to public buildings, although it does not say so directly, as the only works exempt are public buildings costing less than $50,000. This scheme is well enough as far as it goes. It apparently insures artistic criticism upon various designs or buildings from time to time as they take shape. It by no means covers the necessity of a concentration of minds exempt from other cares continu- ously upon a broad scheme of development covering not only Washington, but the region round about, and not the merits of individual works alone, but the merit and appropriateness of all works in relation to the one grand scheme set forth in advance and with a forecast for a long future. Senator McMillan proposes a resolution for a joint select committee of Senate and House to investigate and report upon some comprehensive plan for sites for public buildings that may be needed for years to come; this joint committee to employ a number of distinguished architects from the country at large for the purpose of devising the plan. 170 LEGISLATION PROPOSED. 1 7 1 This scheme meets the same difficulty before recognized — the absorp- tion of the members of Congress in legislative and political matters, their temporary residence in Washington, and uncertain tenure of office. To employ a number of distinguished architects would mean a very large expense for which they could afford but little time. The careful and prolonged study of intelligent resident citizens, in conjunction with the Commissioners of the District and a representative from the mem- bership of the Congressional committees, appointed for a decade, with a gradual rotation from office, and calling to their aid from time to time the judgment of experts, would result in much more thorough conclusions at less expense. CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING NEW WHITE HOUSE. Halls of the Ancients, Washington, D. C . , May 21, 1900. My Dear I)r. Sowers: I beg to avail myself of my relation to you as my physician, for an authoritative judgment upon the expediency of an enlargement of the present White House or the construction of another on a new location. I would ask your opinion as to the comparative healthfulness of the present location with that of a situation on the heights overlooking the city. The present tendency for desirable residences is entirely to the north. More and more the high land is chosen. Certainly the establish- ment of a residence for Presidents of the United States for a century or centuries to come is a very important responsibility. The sanitary or beneficial influences affected by locality should receive most serious con- sideration. Inasmuch as a President is liable to be held in the city at important crises during the summer months, would notan elevated situation relieve the necessity which has existed for years — that he should remove with inconvenience to some small estate in the suburbs on the approach of summer? Yours, very truly, Franklin W. Smith. Washington, D. C. , May 22, 1900. My Dear Sir: I am in receipt of jours of the 21st instant, and, realizing the importance of the questions submitted to me professionally, thej r have my liest attention. First, in my judgment there is no question that the location of a new Presidential Mansion on the heights at the north of the city should lie chosen in preference to an enlargement of the old White House. It is an indisputable fact that for citj r life an elevated grade is to be preferred for residence. All malarial and humid influences settle in the lowest strata of the atmosphere. Washington is surrounded by hills. A river, much inclosed flows ADDENDA. *73 along its border. In warm or rainy seasons and in quiet conditions of the atmosphere there is a very marked difference between the humidity of the atmosphere and the activity of its currents on the lower levels of the city and on the hilltops. The difference is plainly observable in passing quickly from one to the other. The selection of a home for the President of the United States should te decided after scrutiny of all considerations bearing even in slight degree upon the prospective health of the President or of members of his family. The same solicitude should be manifested in this choice that would be shown by a kingdom for the health of a queen. The interests of a nation are involved therewith. It is not only with reference to the constitutional endurance of the President himself, who may be of rugged constitution, but his efficiency and happiness are involved in the health and happiness of all his house- hold. He may te quite insensible to sanitary or atmospheric influences which might seriously affect a member of his family. Injurious conse- quences to one of his household would compel his attention, control his movements, or bring care to his mind as though visited upon himself. Beyond the question that you specially submit, of comparative advan- tages of purer atmosphere and more comfortable temperature to be found on an elevated site, there is another consideration that should have great weight. All people need a change of environment from their daily avocations. The greater the absorption in labor the more the necessity for a contrast of scene. It should always have been a matter of regret to the people that Presidents who have served them for a century have had their business and their home under the same roof; that their domes- tic life should be with exposure to impurities of atmosphere and the possibilities of contagion, inevitable when their home was constantly the resort of many for business and frequently also a gathering place of thousands. A President with his burdensome cares, more than other men, should have a complete transition not only from office walls but from his business premises. The merchant leaves his store at night to go to another quarter of the city or to delightful suburbs, and returns in the morning refreshed by the change. It would be a very serious consideration for the health and endurance of business men if their homes were either a part of or adjacent to their offices, stores, or factories. Why should not a President of the United States, like the merchants, manufacturers, or other officials, have a refreshing change from the scene of his toil to a delightful home, to pleasant gardens, to a varied outlook such as all others seek according to their means? The grounds at present around the White House consists of two literal lawns and a closed conservatory. There is nothing of the pictur- esque, the varied aspects, floral and verdant, of thousands of estates in the country close at the border of cities. They are nothing comparable 174 ADDENDA. to the estate of a nobleman in England. Now, by proposed large addi- tions the area would be greatly reduced. The vista east and west is directly on massive walls of the Departments. If the voice of the country could be heard, it would protest against such a contracted scale of facilities for comfort, of sources of pleasure, of suitable dignity, to be fixed for another hundred years as an expres- sion of the breadth of national hospitality toward the Chief Magistrate to be of one or two hundred millions of people. Custom has rendered the people quite oblivious to the fact that Presi- dents have been compelled to unite their business and their home life. If there were no White House to-day and a new location were to be selected, there is no question but that the same choice would be made for him that is now being made by citizens rapidly for themselves, viz, upon the high, dry, and airy elevations at the north, with a magnificent panorama of the Capitol in prospect. Certainly the consideration of a few millions of dollars will be found to be an economy too paltry in the judgment of the people of the United States to be weighed against the choice of the most healthful, attractive, and stately location available for the home of Presidents during centuries to come. They should dwell in environment the best possible for their health and happiness; for their happiness will be an important factor for their health, and their health and that of their families is of vital concern to the nation. Yours, very truly, Z. T. Sowers. Mr. Franklin W. Smith. [From the Chicago Record.] A NEW WHITE HOUSE. It is generally conceded by all persons who have examined the sub- ject that the Government must soon build a new house at the national capital for the President. The building that has been occupied by the Chief Magistrates of the nation for nearly one hundred years is inade- quate and unsatisfactory. It is neither convenient for the occupants nor attractive in appearance. Congress has taken the first practical step toward housing the Presi- dent in a manner suitable to his high office by authorizing the Chief Executive to appoint a commission to report upon plans for the improvement of the White House and for the treatment of that part of Washington lying between it and the Potomac River. It is hoped by many, however, that no attempt will be made to “work over” the present historical building. Enlargements and additions will only destroy the simplicity of the original plan without producing a result that will be either artistic or comfortable. An entirely new design ADDENDA. 175 should be made and the best architectural talent ought to be engaged upon it. It is regretted by some that the Senate Committee on Appro- priations, in providing for the appointment of a commission, should have included in the list of members the Chief of Engineers of the Army. For military engineering work no better appointee could have been chosen, but it is no reflection upon the incumbent of the office to say that his training has not fitted him to sit in judgment upon architectural and landscape gardening designs. The commission ought to consist of prac- tical men, and it should not be hampered by the somewhat routine methods of army work. In the hurried legislation at the close of the session, June 7, the sundry civil bill carried along, with many other items reported by conferees, an appropriation of $ 6,000 for “drawings, model, specifications, etc., for extending the Executive Mansion.” It is to be hoped that the plans following this outlay will be regarded merely as tentative and suggestive, as in the case of the design reported “approved” for the Memorial Bridge. Expenditure that forecasts the needs and opinions of a century should be the result of serious criticism. It is strange that after the late positive refusal to encumber Rawlins Park with one building and the emphatic protests against reduction of park area, it should be proposed to pack between the walls of the Treasury and War Departments two large buildings, in greater obstruction of air about the White House and absorption of its present narrow outlook. An arched thoroughfare at Sixteenth street is no novelty. Several palaces in Europe are pierced by grandiose archways. Thus it was with the Tuilleries, and is with the Louvre, the palace at Vienna, the Senate and winter palaces at St. Petersburg. No. 126 — Portal through the War Department buildings, St. Petersburg. Addenda No. 6. CRITICISM OF THE DESIGN REPORTED TO CONGRESS FOR THE MEMORIAL BRIDGE. No. 127. — Memorial bridge across the Potomac at Washington— design No. 1. (Showing the accepted design for towers.) No. 128.— The Arch of Septimius Severus, Rome, A. D. 205. Massive, monumental, impressive, expressive. The accepted design for a bridge is a good base for aggrandizement. As hereinbefore illustrated, the writer has a clear apprehension of a magnificent bridge, more splendid, imposing, and effective than the accepted design. As to that which has been accepted, the public com- placency with which it has been received is a surjiri.se. It is too light in effect. It is a pretty river bridge, but an impression from it as a memorial or monumental structure seems an impossibility. The two thin, open arches midway of the stream are plainly the old- fashioned hoisters for a draw bridge modernized and beautified. They' are 176 ADDENDA. 177 very elegant shears to step a mast or swing a boiler. One must be told that they are memorial. Standing in the middle of a stream, there is a sense of instability associated with them. Inevitably against such large atmospheric space their size is belittled. Contrast them with the Arch of Septimius Severus, and the question of Mr. Keller (p. 53) will return. Why not roll the two insignificant arches into one noble one and place it at the approach to the bridge on the Washington side? To this we add. Why not roll them together again for another grand Roman arch on terra firma on the Virginia side? \\ hy not build for the two four bascule towers, grand piers with recessed tablets for inscriptions? The writer is indebted to Air. Keller for a design (Plate — ), which suggests porticoes, urgently advocated, that would range onward from the Mall Boulevard. That treatment might be combined with the columnar pavilion (p. — ). The suspension of contract for this important work may prove most fortunate. The foundation can be secured for a superstructure later, and memorial arches worthy of their subject and site may be a gratula- tory result from delay. No. 129.— Design from Croquis d’ Architecture— 1886, vol. XXII. S. Doc. 209 Pt. 3 12 CONCRETE BRIDGES. 178 No. 130. — Melan arch-bridge construction, Eden Park, Cincinnati Note the solidity of the above compared with the latticed arches fig. 127. No. 131.— William Mueser, C. E. A bridge as an ornament, not a defacement of a park. Addenda No. 7. ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF EMBOWERED HOMES IN WASHINGTON. VERDURE RAMPANT ON CITY WALLS. These were not received iu time for their place. Iso. 13^. Residence of Dr. S. S. Adams, Dupont circle. Tower and wall covered with Japanese ivy, 179 No. 133.— Residences of Dr. S. S. Adams, Gen. Auson Mills, aud the Misses Strong, Dupont Circle. Luxurious growth of Japanese ivy and wistaria. Addenda No. 8. No. 135.— View of the east bank of the I’otomac opposite Analostan Island, from south side of Aqueduct Bridge. l8l Views North and South on the Banks ok the Potomac from Aqueduct Bridge. These views were obtained too late for insertion with the text they illustrate, either with “Aggrandizement No. io. Protection and beauty for the banks of the Potomac,’’ p. 105, or “Aggrandizement No. 11. Transformation of Analostan Island,” p. 109. No. 134. — View of the Potomac from the north side of the Aqueduct Bridge. CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION BEING DEMONSTRATED IN WASHINGTON, JUNE, t<)oo. Addenda No. 9. J„eon U. DESSEZ, Architect. A. I*. Harris, Del. Seven-story building, 4 12 Fifth street NW., opposite Judiciary Square, for Messrs. Hamilton & Colbert. CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION IN WASHINGTON. 183 This publication renews a record of the author’s advocacy of concrete construction for National Galleries in 1890, after practical experience with it for the hotels of St. Augustine. Meanwhile, for ten years he has lost no opportunity to argue for its adoption and to predict that it is the coining material. The opinion was indorsed by The American Architect and other journals. Successive examples of its use in the United States, following a general practice in Europe, have proved its cheapness, durability, and strength, and led to its rapid adoption. It was a gratifying coincidence that just at the close of this writing a fine building, entirely of concrete, should be commenced with the elevation annexed — following its use for the new census building, belts, sills, stairs, etc. The same contractors, The Ransome Concrete Co., of New York, have built a church of concrete in Brooklyn, N. Y. , structures in California and in other States. No. 137.— View of the work in progress for concrete building on Fifth street, Judiciary Square. June 7, 1900. Addenda No. io. ESTIMATED COST OE THE AGGRANDIZEMENTS. There may be an impulsive judgment that outlay for the enterprises proposed will reach an impossible aggregate. Liberal estimates will demonstrate the contrary. Thus : Condemnation of Pennsylvania avenue $8, ooo, ooo Construction of Galleries ample to completion 1 io, ooo, ooo New White House 5, ooo, ooo Bridge 5, ooo, ooo Filling flats, Mall, etc 1,000,000 Construction of boulevards I, ooo, ooo Porticoes 500, ooo Column of the Union 500,000 New Executive Departments on land owned 1, ooo, ooo New buildings for Smithsonian and other departments now in the Mall. 2, ooo, ooo Additions to park 1, ooo, ooo Sundries 3,000,000 38, ooo, ooo If spent in twenty years, $1,900,000 per year. Anticipating the first expenditures of the commission, they would be generally as follows: First. For condemnation of 300 acres of land above described, to save its advance in value $ 10, ooo, ooo Second. For specimen constructions of galleries of four nationalities and porticoes 500, ooo Third. For preliminary surveys, plans, designs, grading, etc. , of all lands condemned 1, 500, ooo . 1 2, ooo, ooo After these the outlay would be gradual through twenty years. When a decree is promulgated of Congress, as the will of the people, for such broad and splendid aggrandizement of Washington, the imme- diate advance of its valuation will greatly exceed the cost. The estimate of experts in real estate upon the resultant advance would be interesting. 1 If Americans equal the English in public spirit and generosity toward the Ken- sington Museum, the Galleries and contents will be largely a gift of the people to the people. When the detailed exhibit of constructions and contents is published, there will be a competition in patriotic and intelligent generosity. 184 Addenda No. n. [From the American Architect, June 2, 1900.] PLANS FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF WASHINGTON. Senator McMillan’s amendment to the sundry civil bill, providing for the appointment of an architect, a landscape architect, and a sculptor, to be associated with the Chief of Engineers in preparing a report to the next Congress embodying recommendations for an extension of the White House, for the redemption of the south side of Pennsylvania avenue, and for new sites for public buildings and the development and beautification of the public grounds, seems at first glance an admirable measure. But it is doubtful if this legislation is going to reach the desired mark. The commission named is not large enough. The appropriation is sufficiently liberal to supply a larger one. Ten thousand dollars should cover a good deal of work. In a suggestion made on this point in a recent letter, the same writer advocated a commission composed of the best men we have in the three professions to study a treatment of the grounds in question, “a treat- ment on lines within which the national buildings might be increased as needed.” But one architect, one landscape architect, and one sculptor are not enough to constitute such commission. We want, and. the Chief of Engineers will want, a consensus of the best opinion in those professions. We have not forgotten the splendid architectural success of the World’s Fair, at Chicago, in 1893. The methods which proved so admirable on that occasion, and the result which gave us the best thought of the professions as to the whole treatment of the problem, while leaving ample scope for the develop- ment and utterance of individual talent, are the methods we should apply and the result we hope to attain now for the national capital’s future growth. The art professions hope to see in this growth an expression of the nation’s advance in intellectual as well as in material greatness. The McMillan bill has a serious weakness, in that it leaves room for the working of schemes of self-interest. It invites a job. An ambitious member of the architectural profession, with a landscape 185 PROPOSED LEGISLATION. 1 86 map in his pocket, may, with some knowledge of wire-pulling and a strong array of political backing, bag the plum which this bill so tempt- ingly displays, and lay the foundations of a possible greater and more golden career — at the nation’s expense. And while it is not meant to suggest, even remotely, that the President is likely to appoint any but capable men to these places, it is meant to insist that the men who maneuver for them are not the right men for the work. In short, it is to be hoped that the bill will not pass in its present form. The question it deals with is too important to be exposed to the jeopardy of probable lobbying, and lobbying is inevitable as it now stands. The amendment should create a commission of not less than three architects, two landscape architects, and one sculptor, to act with the Chief of Engineers for the purposes defined. The members should be, as far as possible, men who have already served with distinction in the determination of similarly important matters, and whose professional attainments and standing will be universally recognized as preeminent. They should be clothed with the necessary powers to call for persons, papers, etc., and be provided with funds needed to follow out the inquiry submitted to them to the completest solution of the problem. Congress has before it in this matter a question of which the people will demand sooner or later a satisfactory solution. The idea of fixing upon a comprehensive plan within whose lines all future increase in the number of our public buildings and the constant beautification of the capital city may be carried on meets with approval wherever it receives due consideration. This idea has been in the minds and in the mouths of men for a long time. Much valuable thought has been given and a great deal of important work has been done on the matters involved in this scheme for the development of Washington by professional men as well as by culti- vated and experienced lay students. The commission should have the tenefit of all this effort on the part of thinkers who have foreseen the ripening of this question. And the only commission fitted to handle the problem is one so constituted in qualifications and in numbers as to eliminate the possibility of personal greed or political or sectional interests playing any part in its findings. Addenda No. 12. EXTRACT FROM THE ORATION OF THE HON. MARRIOTT BROSIUS, M. C. FROM PENNSYLVANIA, ON MEMORIAL DAY, MAY 30, 1900, AT THE ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY. [From the Washington Star, May 30, 1900.] A VISION OF SPLENDOR. Particularly effective and impressive was the orator’s peroration. “ When I contemplate,” he said, “ the supremacy of that lofty stand- ard of patriotism which will guide our footsteps in the pathway to national duty and honor, a vision of ineffable splendor bursts upon my imagination. I see this Republic in the vanguard of the world, standing distinctly for humanity, liberty, justice, and progress, the essential principles of western civilization; advancing in harmony with that providential order by which all races are at last to come under a higher social regime. I see the extension of our language, our litera- ture, our laws, our institutions, and our commerce over the vast spaces of the earth and the islands of the sea. I see the greater America wield- ing with a just and benevolent hand her supremacy, holding the scepter of commercial and financial empire. I see the realization of the dream of patriots and the aspiration of statesmen that our country, through its social, political, and commercial influence, should become the means of diffusing civilization among the backward peoples on the oceanic spaces to the west of us as well as those on the shores of Asia. I see a people meeting their measureless responsibilities, following the pointing of duty and destiny with a profound sense of obligation to those ethical principles which constitute that righteousness which exalts nations, never forgetting ‘ that man is more than nature ; that wisdom is more than glory ; that virtue is more than dominion of the sea, and that justice is the supreme good.’ ‘‘I see American valor commemorated in a magnificent monumental memorial bridge connecting the capital with beautiful, consecrated Arlington, the nation’s Walhalla. I see our capital city the intellectual and educational as well as the political center of the continent, embody- ing in her public edifices the noblest intellectual and patriotic conception of American art and architecture. I see her National Galleries of History 187 ORDERS FOR PRINTING. 1 88 and Art, her institutions of law, medicine, and theology; her temples of science, surpassing in the amplitude of their resources for knowledge any the world holds elsewhere, rivaling in architectural splendor their ancient prototypes. I see rising against the western horizon temples with columns and entablature in perfection of beauty — bequests of Greece to our new world — in memotiam of those who have wielded the executive power of the nation from its origin. I see her Executive Mansion commensurate with the rank and dignity of the Republic, crowning her Palatine hill, and surpassing in artistic and architectural excellence a palace of the Csesars, all conceived and executed by American intelli- gence and patriotism to be typical of American progress in the nine- teenth century.” The author with pleasure acknowledges generous assistance toward the above illustrations of Messrs. Harry Dodge Jenkins and H. C. Wilkinson, Tenderers of architectural drawings; of Mr. L. C. Handy, photographer; the Progress Publishing Company, New York; the National Engraving Company, Washington, and the Towle Manufacturing Company, New- berryport, Mass. The historical brochures circulated by this company, from which the Hancock House and State House, Boston, were obtained are as beautiful as they are instructive, and are circulated gratis by the company. [From the Congressional Record, May 31, 1900.] NATIONAL GALLERIES OF ART. Mr. Gallinger submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to : Resolved by the Senate ( the House of Representatives concurnng), That the Public Printer shall print and bind 5,000 copies of Senate Document 209, Fifty-sixth Con- gress, first session, one-half in cloth and one-lialf in paper covers, the same to be delivered to the Superintendent of Public Documents for sale, under the provisions of section 61, of an act approved January 12, 1S95, providing for the public printing, binding, and distribution of public documents. The Public Printer is also authorized to print and bind extra editions of not less than 1,000 copies at a time of said docu- ment on requisition of the Superintendent of Documents, when required for .sale. Mr. Hoar. I move also that a number of the volumes mentioned in the resolution just passed be printed for the use of the Senate, not to exceed in cost $500. The President pro tempore. The Senator from Massachusetts will please restate his motion. ADDENDA. 189 Mr. Hoar. The copies of the document referred to in the resolution submitted by the Senator from New Hampshire [Mr. Gallinger] , which has been agreed to, are ready, I understand, to be stricken off, but they will not be printed probably until some time late in the vacation. I make a separate motion that a number not to exceed $500 in cost shall be printed for the use of the Senate. The President pro tempore. The question is on the motion of the Senator from Massachusetts. The motion was agreed to. Congress adjourned June 6. The pressure of bills at the close pre- vented any introduction of the above concurrent resolution. It will be in order at the opening session in December. o THE UNITED STATES. The accumulations per inhabitant in thirty years average /'205 sterling (about $1,000). This is a prodigious growth of wealth in thirty years and without parallel in the history of the human race. If we take a survey of mankind in ancient and modern times, as regards the physical, mechanical, and intellectual force of nations, we find nothing to compare with the United States in this present year of 1S95. The physical and mechanical power which has enabled a community of woodcutters and farmers to become in less tlran one hundred years the greatest nation in the world is the aggregate of the strong arms of men and women, aided by horsepower, machinery, and steam power, applied to the useful arts and sciences of every-day life. -Mulhall. “ You are struggling with one of the two great problems of civilization. The first is a very old struggle; it is, ‘How shall we get leisure?’ This is the problem of every hammer stroke of labor since the foundation of the world. The second fight of civilization is, ‘What shall we do with our leisure when we get it?’ ” — President Garfield at Chautauqua, 1S7S. George Morrison, one of the greatest civil engineers who spanned the Mississippi with great bridges, said that within a century no one will do any physical labor. A man to-day represents one thousand times as much power as'did his great grand- father one hundred years ago. This accession of power will go on and will be more and more used for spiritual rather than physical purposes. — Pei’. E. E. Hale , D. D. WASHINGTON. In Washington 20,000 are employed by the Government at an average of over $100 each— $23,000,000. It has grown without' industry or commerce. Is it not well to preserve it as the center of legislative action, of scientific development, of art, and education ? — Carroll E>. Wright , Commissioner, Department of Labor. The estimate in advance from census returns in progress June, 1900, is of 295,000 population. T- — * T * ?i2t <_> GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 3 3125 00810 1921